There is one question that has been on the minds most Americans since 2003: When will our troops be out of Iraq? It is a fierce debate on Capital Hill as well as in the media. It seems as if every day the media have a press conference and ask that question as if the response will be different than it was the day before. We can look at some key pieces of evidence that have come about recently to try to judge for ourselves when this war will be over and the vast majority of Coalition troops can come home to their families.
The first major sign of success came on December 14, 2003, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, ending any chance he had of returning to power. This was more than just a victory for our forces in Iraq. It was a success for the people of Iraq. They no longer had to live in fear of Hussein and his sons torturing, raping and murdering innocent civilians on simple whims. He is now on trial for genocide, and we are all waiting to see that he is held responsible for the tyrannical form he used while leading Iraq.
The second major success came when Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in an attack on an "unsafe" house in Iraq. This was a major wound to al-Qaeda and caused a shake-up in the organization's leadership.
There was also another victory that came along with this strike. Zarqawi was meeting with several of his senior officials and after the attack, U.S. and Iraqi forces gained a treasure trove of intelligence in the form of documents as well as a large cache of weapons.
The third major success was the approval of the final three members needed to complete Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamil al-Maliki's cabinet. The first person named was Jawad al-Bulani, a Shiite, for interior minister who is in charge of the Iraqi police forces. Also Lt. Gen. Abdul al-Qadir al-Mufriji, a Sunni, who has worked as Iraq's ground forces commander, was named to be the new defense minister. The final person placed in the cabinet was Shirwan al-Waili, a Shiite, who will serve as the Iraqi minister of state for national security.
This finalized cabinet in Iraq is crucial because it gives a level of credibility to this new government which has been at best shaky until now and is increasing in solidity as time goes on.
President Bush made a top-secret trip to Iraq last week to show his support for this new Iraqi government. He offered support to the troops and bolstered our position. He told the prime minister that the U.S. will never cut and run. As the Iraqis stand up and become able to support and defend themselves, we will stand down and our troops will come home.
Rome was not built in a day. Neither was America. It took us many years and a bloody war to establish what now is the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Iraq is working toward becoming a strong and virile nation that will help add stability in the Middle East and in the world as a whole. America took on the burden to help Iraq form a government when we toppled Saddam's regime in 2003. And now we must finish.
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