Here are a few things you’ll take away after watching part 2 of Bush’s War:
- The military planning of the Iraq invasion never seriously took into account the amount of civilian unrest that would follow the ousting of Saddam.
- Our government actually thought our military would be withdrawn from Iraq by December 2003. That’s eight months after the initial invasion.
- We put all our eggs in the “weapons of mass destruction basket” and our strategy was shattered when they never materialized.
The series ends at the beginning of the 2006 troop surge.
Absent from Frontline’s analysis of the Iraq invasion is Gen. Petraeus who spearheaded the new surge plan that helped reinforce our “clear, hold, and build” strategy. Absent also is the cost of the war in American and international deaths and in economic strain.
The final words are a grim reminder of where we are today after five years of an American presence in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan. Are the narrators words a bit too liberal? Should we be thinking with more optimism? Watch and read for yourself.
NARRATOR:
Violence is down in Iraq. They are cautiously calling clear, hold and build a success. But at a cost. The troops and reserves are stretched dangerously thin. The military worries how long the surge can be sustained. In his last State of the Union address, George W. Bush made a final plea to history …
PRESIDENT BUSH:
“The mission in Iraq has been difficult and trying for our nation. But it is in the vital interest of the United States that we succeed. We must do the difficult work today so that years form now, people will look back and say that this generation rose to the moment, prevailed in a tough fight, and left behind a more hopeful region and a safer America.”
NARRATOR:
Soon Bush’s war will be handed to someone new.
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