These people are different from the hard Left and Right who have been against the war from the beginning :
From the very outset, rightist critics such as those in The American Conservative have told us that it was a hopeless waste of America resources to offer pre-modern people of the Middle East democratic government. Those of The Nation assured us that Iraq was yet another amoral attempt at postmodern imperialism. Fine, you get what you hear and read with both sides — and both, through good and bad news, have remained consistent and principled in their vehement opposition to all that we have done.
I disagree with them in thinking the war wrong, but at least they remain fairly consistent. Some even say that though they opposed the war and still think it wrong, once in we must stay to avoid throwing Iraqis to the wolves and making the Middle East worse. That at least is a practical concern.
But what about the war supporters who have faded away in what they see as our winter of war?
But the latest criticism is more troubling, since it often comes from the “my perfect war, your lousy peace” school that, for some reason, never critiques the three-week removal of Saddam Hussein. Instead, it defends its evolving opposition to the war by advancing particular pet theories of reconstruction that were never followed. Rarely do we hear that most postbellum efforts are long, messy, and necessary, much less that the essence of war is lapse and tragedy, with victory going only to those who in the end err the least and endure. Anyone back in the United States can post facto write up a list of what ought to have been done in Iraq amid the heat and fire; but they at least need to factor in the conditions at the time that led the supposedly less bright on the ground not to anticipate their own inspired wisdom from afar.
I have little respect for these people. Wars don't usually go according to plan and to pretend that the problems we have today were avoidable (or that avoiding some would not have led to other possibly worse problems) or somehow evidence of criminal incompetence is to ignore history. Supporting the beginning of a war should include supporting fighting until we win. Criticize and offer suggestions--but do so in the spirit of trying to correct mistakes and drive on to victory--not to explain away your past support and justify turning tail and running.
But aside from that, these people who turn on the war so their dinner party conversations can be a little more pleasant when faced with war opponents are betraying our troops who are winning even as support for their sacrifice dwindles. Our troops aren't allowed to change their minds in the middle of war over the oath they took to protect us:
Our leaders have been keen on getting the support of the American people for war. The military especially has been gun shy after Vietnam unless the American people clearly support the decision to wage war. The resulting Abrams Doctrine of relying on our reserves to ensure public debate prior to going to war surely worked for the Iraq War. There was mobilization, debate, and a Congressional authorization for war that reflected public polling in support of war. Pretty much the Gold standard, wouldn't you say?
But now elements of our population and political parties are abandoning their earlier pledge of support while the war is not yet won. We are winning but the war is not yet won.
So the question is, when giving consent to wage war, don't those who give that consent have an obligation to maintain that consent until victory? Was there a clause in the Congressional declaration that said it sunsets in 2006 or is there a subsection that allows for a reversal at the 2,000th casualty? And the American people whose support for winning is dropping, the same criticism holds. If our enemies ever believe our people have a particular threshold where we retreat, we guarantee resistance to reach that threshold.
We who supported the invasion have an obligation to act like grown ups and support the fight until we have victory. Our troops are winning this war. Let them win. Support them in their sacrifice. And in the end we can all celebrate their skill, bravery, and sacrifice in making us safer, and helping people on the other side of the globe have a better life.
