Last night, President Barack Obama urged us to “turn the page” from Iraq to other matters of state, here at home and in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The end of US combat operations in Iraq, he argued, “should serve as a reminder to all Americans that the future is ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment.”<\/p>\n
Iraq was one of the greatest political and military blunders in US history.<\/p>\n
We wound up fighting a deadly and draining war of choice at a time when our brave soldiers and our national wealth were desperately needed on other fronts.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Obama is wrong:\u00a0 it’s not time yet to turn the page.\u00a0 First we need a day of celebration.<\/p>\n
Not a celebration of victory.\u00a0 As everyone agrees — left, right and center — this wasn’t that kind of conflict.\u00a0 And it certainly didn’t reach the kind of culmination that makes anyone want to stand and cheer.<\/p>\n
But we need to celebrate on a massive scale the commitment, courage and sacrifice of America’s military.<\/p>\n
They showed heroic devotion to a brutal cause, at a time when the rest of our citizens preferred to think about other things.<\/p>\n
It’s a sign of Mr. Obama’s political tin ear that he didn’t propose such an event.<\/p>\n
To correct course, here’s what the White House should do:<\/p>\n
Announce immediately that a full-honors military parade will be held in the capital city of every state in the Union on the same day.<\/p>\n
The date for the celebration should be March 20th, 2011, the eighth anniversary of the day that our ground forces entered Iraq from Kuwait.<\/p>\n
That gives time to prepare.\u00a0 And it takes place after the midterm elections, so that the celebration won’t be seen as political.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of Vietnam, our soldiers had no collective moment of home-coming, no national honoring of their sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Mr. Obama should move quickly to make certain that we don’t repeat that unconscionable mistake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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