The End to the “Occupation”

This is the last time I want to hear Liberals call the U.S. military an “occupying force” in Iraq. In the Dem response to President Bush’s State of the Union Address, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said, "We all know that the United States cannot stay in Iraq indefinitely and continue to be viewed as an occupying force.”

Occupying force? Let’s look at the facts. From the time U.S. troops stepped foot in Iraq in 2003 until June 28, 2004, the United States could be viewed as an occupying force. But what happened on June 28th? That’s when Iraqi sovereignty was handed back over to the Iraqis. From then on, the Interim Iraqi government was in charge of Iraq. The U.S. military continued to stay in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government. Last Sunday, we saw elections conducted in Iraq. After those elections, prominent Iraqi leaders continued to say that they want the U.S. to stay in Iraq until the Iraqi military is capable of securing the nation.

Now, the American Heritage Dictionary defines “occupation” as: “Invasion, conquest, and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces.”* Considering the Iraqi government is in control of Iraq, and that the U.S. military is there at the request of the Iraqi government, how then can the U.S. military be an occupying force?

The U.S. military will not be in Iraq forever, but we are not going to leave until Iraq is stable and Iraqis can be put in charge of their own security. If we leave before that, then all the brave men and women who have died defending Iraqi freedom will have died in vain. We cannot and will not let that happen.

*Source: dictionary.com

–J.E. Heath
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