The Gamble: Petraeus and the Military in Iraq

From centrality to banality: perhaps no other event in modern American history has gone from being contentious to being forgotten as quickly as the war in Iraq. Remember the war? It consumed a trillion American dollars, devoured a hundred thousand Iraqi lives, squandered a country's reputation, and destroyed an American presidency. Given the retreat of the American press--the first American withdrawal from Iraq, you might say--one could almost be excused, in the spring of 2009, for forgetting that 140,000 American troops are still fighting and dying there.

That's the beginning of this excellent book review/article by Dexter Filkins of The New Republic. Many people have forgotten about the Iraq War, a war that our nation was close to losing, that an entire political party (Democrats) were determined to lose, and yet, now a fragile victory has been secured by Bush, Cheney, and other brave Republicans. Obama has not pulled us out of Iraq, in spite of the many who voted for him based on that reason above all, and he is not going to pull us out of Iraq, in spite of change and hope, because he knows that because of the actions of George Bush, victory is now possible in Iraq.

It no longer really matters whether Bush was brilliant or stupid, a man who listened to reason or an idiot savant struck, Forrest Gump-like, by a fleeting insight. Whatever one's view of the war, it is impossible to deny that in the eleventh hour Bush was right.

That's the message that this article conveys, as it is a review of a book called The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, by Thomas E. Ricks. In 2006, the Democrats surged to political power by arguing that we need to surrender and pull out of Iraq. The generals on the ground were in the news every day talking about our loss in Iraq, the Democratic Party was working their hardest to assure our defeat there, and a good chunk of the American people were slapping stickers on their cars that said "Run away and hide" (or "coexist"- same thing) and chanting in crowds "Lose the War" (or "end the war"- same thing).

And Bush defied them. This article does a good job though of not giving Bush all the credit- in reality, Bush was desperate for anyone who could save him, could rescue our nation from his previous bad decisions, and into that void appeared the typical savior of America- everyday American hero's. A couple generals, chief among those David Petraeus, stepped forward to say that they could win. In every war that America has ever been in, someone always steps forward past liberals and Democrats and says that they can do it- they can win the unwinnable war. And they do. That's the greatness, the exceptionalism, of America.

I highly recommend you read this review, and even pick up the book. It is a great look back on the last couple years, defying the rhetoric of the left and shedding light into areas the main stream media keeps dark. Enjoy!