By Richard von Zerneck

On October 21, 2011 President Barack Obama announced the formal end of the war in Iraq by ordering home the last of approximately 48,000 troops remaining In Iraq. It took almost nine years, the election of a new president, somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 billion, the lives of over 4,400 American troops and countless Iraqi deaths to bring this war to a conclusion. We will still be grappling with the horrid injuries, both physical and psychological, suffered by many thousands of the American troops for decades to come. But, that war is finally over.

As a parent of a fallen soldier, I have watched this terrible episode in our history with sadness and horror. My wife and I were dismayed (to put it lightly) when our son informed us of his plan to join the New York National Guard specifically so that he could serve his country in the Iraq conflict. As much as we tried to change his mind, he was determined to serve in combat. Realizing that nothing we said would make a difference, we, of course, offered our support. In the back of at least my mind was the thought (hope) that the war would be won quickly and that before our son had finished his training, no additional troops would need to be deployed.

In the time before he actually deployed, we had followed the war in the media with avid attention. We certainly hoped that the Bush administration – Powell, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Bolton – was accurate. They told Americans that our troops would be greeted like heroes, the number of troops deployed would stay low, and that via our superior fire power we would use “shock and awe” to quickly overthrow Saddam Hussein. Unfortunately the war did not go the way Bush and company promised. We learned that we had sent troops into combat without adequate body armor. Families that could afford it, quickly bought body armor for their loved ones in harm’s way. Then we read of the vulnerability of the Humvees to IEDs because they were not adequately armored. In Iraq, iron plates were being welded onto the unarmored Humvees because armored ones had yet to be delivered. When the newer “up-armored” Humvees finally arrived in Iraq, soldiers quickly learned that those Humvees were top- heavy and prone to roll-overs. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, when asked about these failures in planning, replied that “sometimes you have to go to war with the Army you’ve got.” His bravado, which surely cost American lives, rang false.

Perhaps worse was to learn later that the Iraq invasion had been on the front burner of the Bush administration plans since just days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001! Operation Iraqi Freedom, as it was called by the Bush propagandists, began on March 19, 2003, more than 16 months after Bush and his administration began planning for the invasion. Why American soldiers could not be properly protected with suitable weaponry and defensive shields was never adequately addressed by the media or the administration. Our most precious commodity, the nation’s young men and women, were sent into combat ill-equipped to do the jobs required of them! We, the parents of a soldier soon to be deployed were horrified and very frightened.

We also watched with dismay as the war, suddenly not turning out to be the advertised “walk in the park”, became a propaganda effort. Remember Jessica Lynch? Former pro football star Pat Tillman? Their supposed exploits and heroism eventually were proven to be nothing but propaganda. Torture of prisoners, Abu Ghraib, water boarding, secret rendition, and black sites became the daily stories at home. We learned that the supposed reason for the war, weapons of mass destruction and Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda, were fabrications. American casualties and deaths dwarfed even the most pessimistic pre-war predictions. Soon, hundreds of thousands of Americans were being deployed. Our all volunteer armed forces were faced with stop-loss orders keeping them in Iraq rather than being sent home at the end of their deployments. Troops were forced to serve multiple tours, our National Guard soldiers, rarely sent into combat before, became a mainstay of our combat troops. As casualties spiked we learned of the dysfunctional hospitals of the Veterans Administration. Charities were begun to help serve the needs of our wounded warriors. After years of denial, the administration finally acknowledged just how many returning soldiers were afflicted by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Of course, little was initially known about how best to treat this debilitating condition, at least by military doctors. Our troops were tired, many were depressed and few came home to good jobs after mustering out.

Our son was deployed to Afghanistan in January of 2008. He was ordered there by our newly elected President Obama. He had campaigned partially on the notion that he would wind down the Iraq conflict but would increase our presence in Afghanistan. He even promised to bring our Iraq forces home by the end of 2011. He was attacked by the Republican and Democratic war apologists for setting a definite date. “It will only embolden our enemies” they said. But he stuck to his guns and now has kept his promise.

For my family though, it was no of help. Our son was killed in action on October 2, 2008 when, while trying to evade a car driven bomb, the Humvee he was driving rolled over. It was an “up-armored” Humvee, and the crash killed him and injured everyone else aboard.

From that day forward our lives were drastically changed, as you might imagine. My son left behind a widow and three young children. That is our family today.

Like most Americans we watched in apprehension as, while the Iraq war was wound down as our president had promised, the Afghan conflict grew. We have now lost almost 1,800 American lives in that distant country. Slowly however, we did see changes take place. The propaganda machine was turned off. Fallen American soldiers were no longer hidden away. Families could meet the bodies of their loved ones as they were returned to America. Veterans care and benefits became matters of deep concern. New technology and expanded use of older technology lead to fewer casualties. Just short of ten years after the attacks of 9/11, the hated Osama Bin Laden was killed by American special forces specifically sent in for that purpose by President Obama. Al Qaeda leaders were being picked off by unmanned drones and guided bombs. Troop deployments were being shortened and more evenly rotated. Attention started to be paid to the needs of our returning veterans.

On the international front, America no longer was the bellicose leader, the policemen of the world. Our allies were asked to once again play a role in defusing armed conflicts. This did not sit well with the American war machine and their spokespeople. When he used NATO forces to lead the support of the Libyan rebels as they battled to oust Muammar Qaddafi, Obama was chided for “leading from behind,” for not being aggressive enough with American forces. No matter that our armies are stretched too thin already, our weapons heavily used, our entire nation tired of the long conflicts. They said that “American Exceptionalism” demanded that we lead the way in defeating Qaddafi.

Just a few days ago we learned of Qaddafi’s death at the hands of the rebels after his convoy, seeking to escape his home city, was bombed by a pilotless American drone. According to early reports, our direct involvement in the Libyan conflict cost no American lives and relatively little money. The dictator responsible for the Lockerbie bombing of an American passenger plane was dead, only a few years after the Bush administration had removed him from the list of terrorists. America and NATO came to the rescue of the Libyan people as they struggled to overthrow their hated dictatorial leader.

I can only hope that the heady news of the past few days marks the end of one era and the opening of another more hopeful, more purposeful one. Our armed forces are there to be used, but only when properly prepared and armed and only when it is in the most vital interests of our country. If we must go to war, the entire nation should be asked to share the burden. Never again should a president be allowed to place our war-related costs “off budget.” If taxes need to be increased to pay for a conflict, so be it. At least then all Americans will be asked to participate in some way. It is all too easy to support a war that does not affect you or those that you know. We must stay attuned to the use of propaganda. “Selling a war,” as Bush’s spokespeople called it, is not something we should ever do again. Our troops must be well paid, with meaningful pensions and veterans benefits if we are to count on an all volunteer force. Weaponry should be developed appropriate to our perceived needs, not merely to keep assembly lines in motion and corporate profits coming in. And the wars like the Iraq War, unnecessary and unwise, must never happen again. Our conflict in Afghanistan must be ended sooner rather than later. We should support the governments of a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan. We must complete the destruction of Al Qaeda. It is imperative that we learn from our own recent history. Hopefully, we soon will be able to welcome home the last of our troops from Afghanistan.

Then our wars will really be over.