Thoughts on Iraq

Caught a few glimpses of Obama's speech marking the end of combat operations in Iraq, what most liberal democrats call Bush's war.  Of course, Obama is not, nor ever was, fond of this war.  His speech last night alluded to that fact numerous times.  This morning, the Fox News pundits were on the attack, picking apart the speech and questioning Obama's motives.  Was he trying to appeal to the "middle class" while appeasing his hard-left base?  And how dare he bring the economy into the discussion.  More blaming Bush was really what it all amounted to.  There are numerous good reasons for being extremely cynical about the war in Iraq.  It would seem that some measure of victory appears to have been accomplished, but I guess time will tell the real story.  However, being a simple guy, I tend to think of it like this....picture a schoolyard full of playful children.  Then along comes this really big and bad kid.  He loves nothing more than torturing and tormenting the weaker kids, which include the majority of the kids on the playground since this kid has been set back a couple years and stands head and shoulders over the others.  In short, he is the classic bully.  But then there is this good kid who really is the only one out there who can take on the bully.  The bully really is no threat to him, but he just can't stand sitting there and doing nothing about the situation.  So he acts.  He puts the bully in his place and the playground becomes peaceful again.  Isn't that what happened with Iraq?  Saddam Hussein was the bully and his own country and neighbors were those he loved to torment the most and he did it all while thumbing his nose at the one "super power" who had the ability to put an end to it.  Bush decided to end it.  Saddam Hussein is no more and the Middle East at least has a better chance of becoming a more peaceful place.  That is probably a very naive way to look at the overall picture, but it does hold a grain of truth.  All tricks aside (and truthfully there appear to have been quite a few of those played to win initial support for this war), the result was positive and isn't that what we should be focused on now, to the praise of those who made it happen...those "good kids" who brought down this really dreadful bully.  They made the difference when no one else would or could.  I believe at this moment a thank you is in order. Maybe that is all that Obama really needed to say last night.