It has been 4 year of war and chaos in Iraq beginning from American invasion until this day and the escalating conflict were far from end. What we see today in Iraq is not a stable country with a great culture, civilized, democratic and of course, healthy nation just as the promise of America after "Operation Iraqi Freedom" but a scorched, battered, and ruined nation filled with terror, pain and death.

What goes wrong? Do the tactics wrong? Do the policies wrong? Does the situation & circumstance go wrong?

According to the data of military technology, The American with its hi-tech weaponry and manpower, just need approximately couple of days and as long as a couple months to secure the area, clean the mess, rebuild the rest and extract from there. However, the reality as you can see now is The U.S Troop are stuck in there without even know when the hostility end or will end. Although President George.W.Bush are asking the Congress to give more and more fund & manpower to be sent down to make sure the peace will come at last in Iraq, many people doubt it will end. Many more believe that it will never end as long as America forces still there. Many of people in the whole world even in America criticized President Bush decisions. Celebrating these 4 years of war, people rallying themselves on a demonstration against war in Iraq and ask America to pull their troops out of Iraq.

For me, this series of even was a wonderful even…..why? Because it's the first military blunder America has made in the 21^st century. It is also the example of the failure of a military strategy up into the basic level. Pardon me; I am not a general or even a military practitioner; I just a commoner who happened to love military strategy books and military history so much; and as a commoner, I just gave my opinion just as other commoner would gave, plain and simple. For detail opinion or in-depth opinion about it… I gave it to military academy graduate or other expert on the field, because they have the requirement needed to make it.

If you ask me why I consider it a fatally failure campaign, here the deal.

First, the U.S Forces has lost their initiative, they took too long to secure the area more than their timetable ever predicted. This overscheduled time proves very fatal to the rest of the campaign because overtime need additional fund, manpower, ammo, and don't forget casualty because most of the casualties in this campaign comes from the overtime. If you think the area were already secured when President Bush announce that the major battle were over and won, for me the area is secure IF AND ONLY IF the hostility ceased to existed and there is no more hostile forces ever present in the area…a total, complete and maximum area control. The overtime also increase population dissent inside and outside that area, this is showed by the increasing of chaos inside Iraq and increasing of protest on the whole world against American invasion toward Iraq. Eventually, this dissent will spark open hostility toward America or American and the new wave of terrorism appear. The so-called terrorist itself were far from defeat on this campaign, they just had a major drawback on their plan but so far I believe they still well alive and still can wreak havoc on Iraq or anywhere against America.

Second, the longer the campaign, the more complicated the issue that present. In the first days or months of the campaign, maybe you just have to deal with maintaining peace issue, security issue, and fixing the damage issue. However, after 4 year, you have to deal with a more complicated issue such as economic inflation, poverty, health problem epidemic, mass hysteria, chaos, terror attack, starvation, separatist movement, and all because of the invasion. More complicated problem need a more specialized manpower, much more fund, and of course more complicated advance plan. For example, we need a Medical Personnel to cure certain Health Problem, not a Military Personnel and we need a Negotiator or Mediator with psychologist, sociologist and anthropologist quality or at least somebody who know the people and the place to reduce mass hysteria, chaos, or separatist movement in the area. The U.S troops certainly not ready to deal with this and thus kind of specific field. Okay, we know they do have their multi-tasking multi-role kind of ability, but to deal with a very specific and complicated issue were not their specialty. You need the right person on the right time for the right job.

Third and final, now it is almost 6 year after the 9/11 and America has open two unfinished campaign in Afghanistan & Iraq (and i just learned that they also trying to open another campaign in Iran as well. Why I called unfinished, because most of the U.S troops still try to maintain peace there without even know when it would end. Okay, we can say that the Afghanistan campaign is almost over with reduces of chaos and hostilities but the impact from this campaign were far from over.  It will be a big bullshit if the impact were not felt on the country was the campaign happened. It will be a bigger bullshit if the impact were not even felt on America. Sooner or later, smaller or bigger, the impact will be feel by America, American Soil or Americans wherever the were, and when that happens, the victory from the campaign will be covered by the defeat from the impact. For the start, the social life in America were turning toward worst side rather than better side with a false prejudice against Islam, Moslem, Arabs, or Major Islamic Country people, insecurity, gap generation lost because of war, and increase of national dissent that can spark more major problem. Not to mention the increasing of hatred toward America and Americans from other scapegoat country or community they condemned. Adding it toward the impact and you got everyone ready to stab you in your back, waiting to found a right moment for the beginning of your end.

I know it not my right to say this because I really know that revenge toward 9/11 is a must for America, but ancient saying said that "let not your anger consume you, lest it would lead you to your doom". Sun Tzu also says that wage a war IF and ONLY IF you really know your capability, you really know your enemies capability, you know your terrain, and you really know you will win for real, and above all, you know you can win for real without sending your troops or unleash your weapon.

I hope everyone especially me can study from this case so we can be more patient to preserve & maintain peace in our little world.

"Patient is Virtue"