"Do you want to win the war?"

“Do you want to win the war?”

Bill O’Reilly has used this apparently simple question as his opening gambit in interviews with folks he would characterize as “extremist kooks.”

I’d like to suggest two answers to this question:
1) We’ve already won!
2) We’ve already lost!

“We’ve already won!” is easy. All stated war aims have been achieved.
1) Iraq has no WMD
2) Saddam has been deposed
3) Democracy has been established in Iraq
a. Constitution written and approved by electorate
b. Parliamentary elections held
c. Government formed
Some might suggest that the continuing daily violence throughout Iraq somewhat diminishes the claim that “democracy has been established in Iraq.” Or perhaps they would argue that, yes, democracy has been established, but a stable government has yet to achieve control of the country – but this was never stated as an aim of the war.

With respect to the violence, in particular, I believe a counter-argument is ready to hand, courtesy of the former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld:
“Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things…"
From this perspective, Iraqis are exercising their freedom with a vengeance.

“We’ve already lost.”

Before getting too far into the details of this response, I’d like to quote extensively from a movie, Other People’s Money. The movie tells the tale of a Wall Street hustler, Lawrence Garfield (played entertainingly by Danny DeVito), and his effort to gain a controlling interest in a company whose physical assets are worth more than its market capitalization. The climactic scene is the annual shareholders’ meeting, at which will be decided whether or not Mr. Garfield can acquire, and then liquidate, the company.

The opposing side is represented by the company’s president, Andrew Jorgenson (played by Gregory Peck). Mr. Jorgenson is allowed to speak first, and delivers an impassioned plea to keep the company running, citing a number of economic factors that might result in its rejuvenation.

When “Jorgy” is finished, Mr. Garfield takes the stage, and proceeds to offer, “Amen, amen, and amen!” explaining that where he came from, you always said ‘amen’ at the end of a prayer, and that what “Jorgy” had offered the stockholders was just that: a prayer. He goes on to identify this particular prayer as a prayer for the dead.

“This company is dead. I didn't kill it. Don't blame me. It was dead when I got here. It's too late for prayers… Let’s have the intelligence, let’s have the DECENCY to sign the death certificate, collect the insurance, and invest in something with a future.”

This is the basis of the response, “We’ve already lost in Iraq.” We lost it the day that Secretary Rumsfeld chose to make light of the riots and looting in Baghdad, rather than take the steps necessary to restore civil order quickly and effectively. What did Secretary Rumsfeld say about the rioting and looting? “Stuff happens.”

We had a brief window of opportunity to restore civil order, to show that we were serious about governing, about rebuilding, about restoring Iraqi society. Our response? “Stuff happens.” The bad guys – all those dead-enders Cheney & Rummy kept referencing – saw this and seized the opportunity which we squandered.

Don’t blame me, Vice President Cheney, President Bush, Bill O’Reilly, or William Kristol – I didn’t lose the war. It was lost when I got here. It’s too late for prayers.

Let’s have the intelligence, let’s have the decency to sign the death certificate.

Do I want to win the war? We’ve already won! We’ve already lost!