The Battle for Falluja
By SEAN HANNON

November 15, 2004

The battle for Falluja is over and we have prevailed... does anyone hear an echo?

The speed of the operation, ahead of schedule, the stubborn but futile resistance met with overwhelming force, the vanishing act by the key insurgents, and now - the part no one has a plan for - the task of winning the peace in a pile of rubble and dead people. Looks like we just had another instance of President Bush’s “catastrophic success”.

It’s the invasion of Iraq in microcosm. And we haven’t learned a damned thing.

Some have expressed concern that our military is overstretched. Our short-term answer has been to extend the tour of duty again, and again, and again.  As 1 in 6 veterans of this 20 month-long conflict now return with post traumatic stress, severe anxiety and major depression, we can anticipate that ratio to narrow significantly in the months to come.

Not to worry though, as we have another generation of fresh young teens coming of age, and they are all getting seasoned to the task as they play Halo 2 on their Xbox. (Haven’t you noticed that the backgrounds for that wildly popular state-of-the-art combat sim look just like the dusty, middle-eastern streets and alleys we’re now storming through?)

In tandem with this preparation, we’ll be sure to work into their school schedule a fieldtrip to the Smithsonian, where they will stroll in awe through the new breathtakingly gorgeous $20 million exhibit, “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War”.

The artistic design of this permanent exhibit is intoxicating with its depth of color, its rich detail of artifacts, and its panaramic, comprehensive sweep of the splendor of war. Visit the marvelously constructed website for this exhibit, and you’ll get the barest appetizer of what this monumental exhibit has to offer. Occasionally you do bump into the actual “price” of freedom --- photos of dead bodies and amputees. But these are presented tastefully, and artfully, and are kept to a minimum, so don’t worry about your youngsters being too alarmed by them. They’ll leave that E-ticket ride with a new zest and smart kick to their walk.

That’s the plan, folks. As for the current generation that must hold out until reinforcements arrive, what will they come home to when all of us here want to throw them a parade, and all they want to do is be left alone and escape from the horrors that haunt their every waking moment? When the new kids are funneled into that blinding sandstorm in Iraq to win the peace, whatever will the returning men and women do to win their inner peace?