1 00:00:02,060 --> 00:00:07,760 The Iraq War was an absolute disaster – a historic mistake. 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:13,780 That’s probably what most Americans – not to mention most people around the world – would say. 3 00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:15,620 But is it true? 4 00:00:15,620 --> 00:00:21,980 President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 is subject to fair debate. 5 00:00:21,980 --> 00:00:26,820 But it’s important to recall that, at the time, the war had overwhelming bi-partisan 6 00:00:26,820 --> 00:00:29,700 support in the House and Senate. 7 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:33,240 Dozens of allied countries joined the coalition. 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:40,220 That support, however, quickly faded as causalities mounted and the war started to bog down. 9 00:00:40,220 --> 00:00:44,800 Criticism then turned to blame when the weapons of mass destruction that were expected to 10 00:00:44,809 --> 00:00:47,380 be found were not. 11 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:50,440 Nothing seemed to be going right. 12 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:56,360 I know – I was there, serving as a lieutenant in the United States Army. 13 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:02,199 As 2007 dawned, President Bush faced a near total collapse in both public and political 14 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:03,960 support for the war. 15 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:10,920 He had to make an impossibly difficult decision: accept strategic defeat and leave Iraq in chaos, 16 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,960 or send even more troops into battle. 17 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:20,620 He chose the latter, a decision that came to be known as “The Surge.” 18 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:23,080 The Democrats predicted disaster. 19 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,040 Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader at the time, said, “This war is lost 20 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,440 and the surge is not accomplishing anything.” 21 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,680 Senators Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton agreed. 22 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,200 They were all wrong. 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:43,520 Led by General David Petraeus, and supplemented by 30,000 additional troops, American forces 24 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,700 and their Iraqi counterparts reversed the course of the war. 25 00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:53,600 It was one of the most stunning and successful turnabouts in modern military history. 26 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,840 In 2008, I returned to the country to see for myself. 27 00:01:57,840 --> 00:01:59,700 I had seen the “before.” 28 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:02,640 I could hardly believe the “after.” 29 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,740 Attacks on US forces were down 90%. 30 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:08,100 American casualties were rare. 31 00:02:08,100 --> 00:02:11,420 Baghdad’s most dangerous neighborhoods were secure. 32 00:02:11,420 --> 00:02:14,280 Al Qaeda in Iraq was decimated. 33 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:15,860 The oil was flowing again. 34 00:02:15,860 --> 00:02:17,440 Iraqis were rebuilding. 35 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,780 And new elections were held. 36 00:02:19,780 --> 00:02:24,880 This was the Iraq that President Barack Obama inherited when he took the oath of office 37 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,140 on January 20, 2009. 38 00:02:28,140 --> 00:02:34,280 Now, Iraq was certainly no Western-style democracy, but it was — as General Petraeus dubbed it — 39 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,960 a functioning “Iraqracy.” 40 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:44,060 So much so that, in a February 2009 speech to Marines at Camp Lejeune, President Obama said: 41 00:02:44,060 --> 00:02:48,700 “The relative peace and strong participation in January’s provincial elections 42 00:02:48,700 --> 00:02:54,320 sent a powerful message to the world about how far Iraqis have come.” 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:03:00,580 Vice President Joe Biden was even more enthusiastic a year later, when he said in February 2010: 44 00:03:00,580 --> 00:03:02,940 “I am very optimistic about Iraq. 45 00:03:02,940 --> 00:03:08,020 I think it’s going to be one of the greatest achievements of this administration.” 46 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:11,540 To put it mildly, it wasn’t. 47 00:03:11,540 --> 00:03:14,220 So, what went wrong? 48 00:03:14,220 --> 00:03:18,500 It started when the Obama Administration got into a dispute with the Iraqi government 49 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:21,980 over something called a “Status of Forces Agreement.” 50 00:03:21,980 --> 00:03:27,520 The Iraqis said they wanted to be able to prosecute American soldiers who broke Iraqi law. 51 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:33,980 Appropriately, the Obama Administration said no; we will prosecute our own law-breakers. 52 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:38,100 But instead of continuing to work towards an agreement, the president, against the advice 53 00:03:38,100 --> 00:03:42,040 of his own generals, ended negotiations. 54 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,580 President Obama had said during his campaign that he would bring all the troops home, 55 00:03:46,580 --> 00:03:52,560 and the status-of-forces dispute gave him the perfect excuse to do just that. 56 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:58,500 On Dec. 18, 2011, the last U.S. soldiers crossed the border into Kuwait. 57 00:03:58,500 --> 00:04:02,040 The United States military was out of Iraq. 58 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:08,320 The Iraq War was over for America, but it was about to begin again for Iraqis. 59 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:13,360 Islamist terror, which U.S. soldiers had successfully crushed, returned with a new vengeance, 60 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,360 most prominently in the form of ISIS. 61 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,540 And the fragile peace between Sunnis and Shia fell apart. 62 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:25,340 With America nowhere to be seen, Iraq’s neighbor to the east and America’s mortal enemy, 63 00:04:25,340 --> 00:04:32,600 Iran, filled the political vacuum while ISIS brutally exploited the security vacuum. 64 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,440 Initially dismissed by President Obama as the “jayvee team,” ISIS took control of 65 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,860 a large part of the country. 66 00:04:39,860 --> 00:04:45,500 Its black flag soon flew over Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi, and many other cities that American 67 00:04:45,500 --> 00:04:48,680 troops had secured at such great cost. 68 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:54,220 The war that George W. Bush had won, Barack Obama had lost. 69 00:04:54,220 --> 00:05:01,000 The painful lesson is this: resolve works, and retreat doesn’t. 70 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,840 When America commits to military victory, as it did during the Surge, 71 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,160 it can defeat its enemies. 72 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:12,200 But when America retreats for political reasons, it loses. 73 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,160 And so do millions of others. 74 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,000 I’m Pete Hegseth for Prager University.