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Columnists - Columnists: Mike Mooney

Friday, Jun. 06, 2008

It's time to end adventure in Iraq

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M y father's jaw dropped.

"You want me to do what?"

I gathered myself.

"I want to join the Army and fight in Vietnam. This is war and I want to do my part, just like you did. You were only 17 when you joined up. Nana (my grandmother) signed for you, now it's your turn to sign for me."

It was 64 years ago today that my dad participated in the largest invasion the world had seen -- one of four invasions in which he participated during World

War II.

William G. Mooney saw action throughout the European Theater, first aboard a destroyer escort -- it was badly damaged in battle -- and later, aboard an LST that eventually brought him and hundreds of others to Normandy.

Back in our living room, anger flashed in my father's eyes as he pondered my request.

He shook his head and gave me the look -- a bone-chilling stare that always signaled our discussion was at an end.

Not this time.

I stood my ground and returned my version of the stare.

Defiant.

Demanding.

I would not back down.

The anger passed from Dad's eyes but not the resolve.

"Look, we were under attack when I joined the Navy. Everyone knew what was at stake. Everyone understood why we had to fight."

This war in Vietnam, he said, was something different.

"Until someone can explain to me why we need to fight Vietnam, the only place you're going is back to school. Vietnam didn't attack us. They didn't drop bombs on us.

"I didn't almost get my butt blown off so you could have the same thing happen to you.

"You're going to finish high school and then you're going to college.

"You owe me a college degree.

"I never made it out of the eighth grade. But you're going to be the first person in this family to graduate from college. That's one of the things I was fighting for, to make sure you had more opportunities than I did.

"After you do that -- after you graduate from college -- then you can go to Vietnam and fight, if that's what you really want to do."

With that, he shook his head and walked out of the room.

It took a while, but I paid my debt to my dad.

I earned that college degree.

By that time, however, the war in Vietnam had lurched to an unsatisfactory conclusion. The nation wanted out, and we finally got out.

By the way, whatever happened to all those dominoes that were supposed to fall?

When my dad died in 1993, he still was waiting for someone in government to explain why it was necessary to sacrifice all those lives in Vietnam.

Today, the nation finds itself at another crossroads.

Thousands of our nation's sons and daughters once again find themselves in harm's way.

Thousands have been killed.

Thousands more have been wounded and maimed.

Can someone explain to me why all this sacrifice was necessary?

Is the world safer today?

Is the Mideast a safer region today?

Have oil supplies, and oil prices, been stabilized as a result of our action?

Have we found and brought to justice Osama bin Laden?

Have we developed any new leads on those "weapons of mass destruction"?

But don't get the wrong idea.

By asking these questions, I am NOT trying to impugn the character, the integrity, the bravery of the men and women who are now, or have been, deployed in Iraq and-or Afghanistan.

They are heroes.

So, why isn't our government doing more to treat them as such?

If we can give the oil companies huge tax breaks, why not the men and women who have fought in Iraq?

In poll after poll, Americans overwhelmingly support the concept of pulling our troops out of harm's way.

So, why are they still in Iraq?

I understand the difficulties of withdrawing our forces.

After all, it was our invasion that destabilized the region in the first place. And once we're gone, more violence and bloodshed certainly await the people of Iraq.

Civil wars are a messy and unpleasant business.

So, what do we do?

That's the billion-dollar question.

I only know this much:

It's time to stop squandering lives, and our nation's vanishing treasure, on a misguided adventure we never should have launched in the first place.

Mike Mooney's column appears every Friday in Local News. He can be reached at mmooney@modbee.com or 578-2384.