Twenty Years Since the Beginning of the War in Iraq

 

This piece in today's New York Times (20 Years On, a Question Lingers About Iraq: Why Did the U.S. Invade?) is a charitable explanation of an invasion that has triggered a series of tragedies that continue to this day. It may be as fair an analysis as is possible. At least, I think, the Biden Administration is cognizant of past errors, but is not paralyzed by them. This may be the best we can hope for.

On this 20th anniversary of the invasion, I have a vivid memory of that night. As a Department of Justice Attorney, I was in Fort Leonard Wood in the middle of Missouri, where the U.S. Chemical Command kept classified documents from World War I. I was there reviewing documents that might have been pertinent to contamination found in soils around American University in D.C., where chemical warfare experiments were centered and mostly forgotten once that War ended.

I was having dinner in a bar/restaurant on base (NOT, the Officers Club). A big screen television was carrying the events live. I watched silently. The only other person watching, also in silence, was a soldier who looked to be in his late 30s or 40s. All of the other customers were much younger soldiers, who drank, laughed, and played pool, completely ignoring the television. I did not know what to make of the scene, and, as an outsider, I did not want to intrude by asking. I still do not know what to make of it. I only know that the ensuing years were a disaster, and that people all over the world are paying the price.