por admin » Lun Ago 30, 2010 9:24 pm
Por que peleamos y que es lo que logramos
Saddam lanzo multiple guerras, uso armas de destruccion masiva y ayudo al terrorismo global. Ahora Iraq es un gobierno aliado de US y representa a toda la poblacion Iraki.
El esfuerzo de US no ha terminado. Cerca de 50,000 tropas junto con una robusta presencia diplomatica, continua entrenando y asesorando a las fuerzas de seguridad de Irak. Los americanos, las fuerzas aliadas y especialmente los Irakies han pagado un enorme precio. Es importante recordarlo.
Por dos decadas, el regimen de Saddam Hussein amenazo la seguridad nacional de US, sus aliados y la estabilidad del Medio Oriente. Invadio a sus vecinos (Iran y Kuwait) y amenazo a otros (incluyendo Saudi Arabia e Israel). Produjo armas de destruccion masiva, las uso contra su propia gente y contra la gente de Iran, y amenazo con utilizarlos contra otros.
Ayudo activamente a grupos terroristas de varios tipos. Brutalizo y aterrorizo a su propia gente. Invadio Kuwait sin provocacion alguna, causando la guerra del Golf en 1991. Violo los terminos del cese al fuego que termino la guerra. Y desafio la voluntad de la comunidad internaciona violando no menos de 16 resoluciones de las Naciones Unidas, resoluciones que condenaban sus actividades.
Desde el punto de vista de seguridad nacional, el objetivo de US despues de Sadam era conseguir un gobierno Iraki que no buscara armas de destruccion amsiva, que no invada a sus vecinos, que no apoyara al terrorismo o causara opresion sobre su propia gente. el objetivo ha sido logrado. El gobierno que ha seguido a Saddam y los que seguiran cumplen con ese criterio y la gente de Irak ha concluido que eso es lo que mas les conviene.
El objetivo de US fue tambien dejar atras a un Irak que se pueda gobernar solo, que se defienda solo, que se sostenga solo y que sea un aliado en la guerra contra el terrorismo. Ese objetivo tambien se ha logrado.
Una tarca al Qaeda es todavia capaz de especular ataques terroristas, pero esos ataque no seran ni una estrategia amenazadora ni una violencia sectorial renovada.
Irak ha demostrado que estan dispuestos y listos a tener un gobierno que dramaticamente provea de servicios a su gente u desarrolle sus extensas reservas de petroleo para que pueda prosperar economicamente. Ellos estan listos para gobernarse.
US y la coalicion de 30 paises y mas importante - la gente de Irak no se contento con solamente reemplazar a Saddam con un gobierno autoritario mas benigno que simplemente evitara comprometer la seguridad nacional de otros. Pero ninguno ha buscado establecer una democracia al estilo americano.
Tambien se ha conseguido el objetivo de incluir a los Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds y Cristianos. Todos ellos pueden trabajar juntos en un marco democratico. Este es un ejemplo poderoso en la region donde los Sunnis oprimen a los Shiites, los Shiites oprimen a los Sunnis o los dos oprimen a los Kurdos.
La gente de Irak es la que ha alcanzado esta victoria. Ellos soportaron la brutalidad de Saddam, sufrieron enormente con la invasion, juntaron sus fuerzas con nosotros (US) para liberarse de al Qaeda y el terrorismo, fueron a las elecciones a pesar de la violencia. Pero los mismos Irakies admiten que no hubieran podido tener exito si no hubiera sido por la ayuda de US.
Talvez el momento mas critico fue cuando Bush tomo la decision en Enero del 2007 de aumentar las tropas en 20,000 y cambiar la estrategia militar. Bush tuvo que superar la oposicion de la mayoria del congreso democrata que pedia el regreso de las tropas de manera inmediata sin importar las condiciones en que Irak quedaba.
Siguiendo la decision de Bush, las fuerzas militares americanas y diplomaticas en una sociedad sin precedente implemento una estrategia para combatir al enemigo. Su exito permitio que US pudiera comenzar a regresar a sus soldados en Diciembre del 2007. En Diciembre del 2008 Bush y el presidente al Maliki firmaron acuerdos para proveer una relacion a largo plazo entre los dos paises y la retirada de las tropas en el 2011.
Aunque la mayoria de Americanos estaban contra la guerra en el 2007, ellos entendian que no era muy importante como se dejaba a Irak. Nosotros quienes vivimos la guerra de Vietnan - un regreso en medio del combate, unas fuerzas militares quebradas, una crisis nacional de confianza - situacion que no debia repetirse. Con resistencia, pero los Americanos aceptaron la nueva estrategia y le dieron a nuestros hombres y mujeres en uniforme el tiempo necesario para conseguir la victoria.
Mr. Hadley was national security adviser to President Bush from 2005-2009.
Why We Fought and What We Achieved
Saddam had launched multiple wars, used weapons of mass destruction and aided global terrorism. Now Iraq's government is an ally and represents all the Iraqi people
By STEPHEN HADLEY
The U.S. effort in Iraq is not over. Some 50,000 U.S. troops, together with a robust diplomatic presence, continue to train and assist Iraq's security forces and support its democratic progress. The American people, our coalition allies and especially the Iraqi people have paid an enormous price. It is important to remember why.
.For over two decades, the regime of Saddam Hussein had threatened the national security of the United States, its key allies and the stability of the Middle East. It had invaded some of its neighbors (Iran and Kuwait) and threatened others (including Saudi Arabia and Israel). It had produced weapons of mass destruction, used them on its own people and the people of Iran, and threatened to use them against others.
It had actively supported terrorist groups of various stripes. It had brutalized and suppressed its own people. It had invaded Kuwait without provocation, leading to the 1991 Gulf War. It had violated the terms of the cease-fire agreement that ended that war. And it had defied the will of the international community by violating no fewer than 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning its activities and calling on it to stop them.
From a national security perspective, the U.S. objective for a post-Saddam Iraq was an Iraqi government that would not pursue weapons of mass destruction, invade its neighbors, support terror, or oppress its people. That objective has been achieved. The governments that have followed Saddam—and those that are likely to govern going forward—have and will continue to meet these criteria because the Iraqi people have concluded that doing so is in their interest.
The U.S. objective was also to leave behind an Iraq that would be able to govern itself, defend itself, sustain itself and be an ally in the war on terror. That objective has also been achieved.
A stubborn al Qaeda presence is still capable of spectacular terrorist attacks, but those attacks are neither a strategic threat nor a harbinger of renewed sectarian violence. The six-month stalemate in forming a new government is worrying, but virtually all Iraqi leaders accept the need for a broadly inclusive government. Once formed, that government must dramatically improve the delivery of services to its people and develop the extensive oil reserves that can fuel future economic growth and domestic prosperity. But the Iraqis have shown that they are ready, willing and able to run their own country.
The U.S., its more than 30 coalition partners and—most importantly—the Iraqi people did not settle for merely replacing Saddam with a more benign authoritarian regime that would simply avoid threatening the national security of others. But neither did they seek to establish an American-style democracy.
What was agreed was to help the Iraqi people make a reasonable start on building the institutions of an Iraqi-style democracy embracing all groups—Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Turkmens, Christians and others. That objective has also been achieved. Iraq's multiconfessional government, a work in progress, has the potential to prove that Shiites, Sunni, Kurds and others can work together in a democratic framework—a powerful example in a region where all too often Sunnis oppress Shiites, Shiites oppress Sunnis, and both oppress the Kurds.
The Iraqi people are the main authors of this success. They endured great brutality under Saddam, suffered enormous hardship after the invasion, joined forces with us to liberate themselves from al Qaeda terrorism, and turned out to vote despite rampant violence. But even Iraqis admit that they could not have succeeded without the United States.
Perhaps the most critical moment was President Bush's decision in January 2007 to add over 20,000 American combat troops and change the military strategy. He was actively opposed by a majority of the Congress and a commentariat that argued for everything from withdrawing immediately to partitioning the country.
Following Mr. Bush's decision, U.S. military forces and diplomats forged an unprecedented partnership to implement the new strategy and break the back of an insurgency that threatened to tear the country apart. Their success permitted the United States to begin withdrawing its troops in December 2007. By December 2008, Mr. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could sign agreements providing both a long-term U.S.-Iraqi partnership and the withdrawal of all American troops by the end of 2011.
Although a majority of Americans had long since turned against the war by 2007, they understood that how we left Iraq, and the Iraq we left behind, mattered greatly. Those of us who had lived through Vietnam—a withdrawal under fire, a broken military, a national crisis of confidence—did not want to go there again. Albeit reluctantly, the American people gave the new strategy, and our men and women in uniform, the time they needed to succeed.
To his credit, President Obama has built on this success. As promised, he is continuing to bring our troops home but without jeopardizing what has been achieved. His next task is to realize a long-term diplomatic, economic and security partnership between Iraq and the United States. As he does so, it will help Iraqis achieve a brighter future and make the U.S. effort in Iraq a hard-won success for all Americans.
Mr. Hadley was national security adviser to President Bush from 2005-2009.