He spoke from the same Oval Office setting used by Bush in 2003, when he told the world America had no alternative but to flush out Saddam Hussein’s putative weapons of mass destruction. The WMDs never turned up — and the war turned out far worse than Bush had fathomed, unleashing a civil war and rampant terrorism. Now, with the U.S. combat role officially ended, though the fighting is actually far from over, Obama has found a face-saving way to draw down U.S. troops without running out on Iraq. He is cleaning up the mess he inherited while making progress in stabilizing that country.
Today, all eyes have shifted from Iraq’s unnecessary war to Afghanistan, the war that 9/11 begat a decade ago. Canada sat out the Iraq invasion, but answered the call for help in Afghanistan, a war that Obama has made his own. Canadian troops, like American soldiers, have paid a heavy price in the Kandahar region. The U.S. President stressed that Afghanistan is a war America and its allies, including Canada, cannot win alone. Outside forces can help rebuild and stabilize, but they cannot determine the outcome.
The lesson of Iraq, if there is any to be learned, is that Iraqis must ultimately determine their own future, solve their own squabbles, and fight their own battles.
It is little different in Afghanistan. Now, Obama’s exit strategy in Iraq is being applied to Afghanistan, but with a difference. One trillion dollars and 4,400 soldiers combat deaths later in Iraq, the U.S. has learned again the limits to military power and the importance of diplomatic influence, economic strength and collective action. America and the world cannot do for Iraqis, or for Afghans, what they alone must do for themselves.
“They are not weak or ineffective forces. Now they are there both to serve as a deterrent to any kind of outside interference in Iraq and serve as a potential reinforcement to an Iraqi government if it needs it.”
The brigades’ advisory-and-assistance role means they will help provide both Iraq’s civilian and military agencies with intelligence and equipment support for counterinsurgency operations. In fact, that continues a role they already switched to months ago, well before Obama’s formal August 31 deadline.
“What we have seen since really June is that it is Iraqi forces which basically lead and take over virtually all of the missions,” Cordesman says. “That was when U.S. forces left the cities and populated areas in Iraq and that in many ways was a de facto withdrawal from active combat that occurred months ago, not in terms of this formal deadline.”