Winning Isn't Everything...

I remember one lesson I learned in sports as a young child. Whether it was basketball, soccer, or baseball, all my coaches always had one thing to say: "Winning isn't everything." Whether we had a great team or not, whether we played a great game or not, whether we won or lost. It was repeated often, and always against a backdrop of pride, arrogance, and all-around bad sportsmanship.

Winning isn't everything.

Remember when Iraq was supposed to be easy? "We will be greeted as liberators." We wanted to avoid "the mushroom cloud." We said we didn't need that many troops, that much time, that much money... (Source.)

You'd never know it by this administrations actions. His way at all costs, his way at any price, to secure Iraq, to secure "freedom," but largely, in the hopes of securing "his legacy." Bush says it often enough, as do his 30% of followers. "History will show he's right," or "His legacy will show this was the right course of action." (Source.) More than anything else, though, is this "We must succeed," or "We must win" mentality, the line of thinking that is not just the goal, but the strategy and the tactics as well. The way he threatens to veto any type of oversight or limitations on the war, which Congress has every right to do, is just more bravado in the face of stubborn refusal to entertain the notion that maybe winning in Iraq isn't the way to win the war on terror, even though Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism against the United States originally...

We learned that "winning wasn't everything" in Vietnam and Korea. The world didn't come to a tragic end, Communism didn't spread like poison ivy across Asia, Europe, and Africa, and thousands of lives were saved through this simple acknowledgement of fact that we weren't going to "win" in the traditional sense. We said "Enough is enough" and came up with different ways to contain what we perceived to be a threat to our way of life, whether or not that perception was accurate... We learned new ways to make our voices heard above the din, to get the world behind us through diplomats, meetings, agreements... And while we learned that talking also doesn't solve everything, it at least saves on the body count, and opens up many more doors and windows for trying something different, something new, something that just may work...

Winning isn't everything.

When did we forget this? That sometimes compromise, sometimes thinking outside "the box" (as much as I despise that cliche), of getting a new map instead of trying to work with the old one... We continue to "surge" troops into Iraq while "insurgents" and al Qaeda surge themselves, feeding a frenzy of ideology, much like trying to put out a fire with kerosene and gas. We cry, "Liquid puts out fire, this will work!" as the flames leap ever higher, closer and closer to that explosion which will take us all out, no matter which side we stand on and shout "You are wrong!" While the "anti-war" movement grows in fits and starts, it also only serves to make this administration even more stubborn and resolute.

Winning isn't a strategy. Victory is not a goal. Of course, we also wouldn't know this from the propaganda shoved down our throats by this administration. "We need victory." "We will succeed, need to succeed." "We must win this war." Someone should have told the president that terror isn't a battle of guns and war plans and tanks--it's a battle of ideology, a battle of thoughts, a battle of beliefs. Remember that phrase "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? The Bush administrations strategy is more along the lines of "You can lead a horse to water, and you can make him drink," except no one ever told Bush that, even if you get the horse to drink, you still can't change the horse's mind... And the more you make the horse drink, the more pissed off the horse is going to get. And no amount of bridles, saddles, and rodeo clowns will save your ass...

Winning isn't everything.

And it's no longer about whether Iraq was a good idea or not; that ship has sailed so far beyond the present problems, it's almost as big a fairy tale as Noah's ark. No one cares anymore whether it was right or wrong, they just want a conclusion. Now whether that conclusion is military victory or cold war stand-off, no one much cares. Thousands have died, both soldiers and civilian. Many more are wounded emotionally, physically, mentally... It's not a game. It's war. It's dirty, messy, bloody, and deadly. If there is a square marked "Pass go, collect $200," it won't be found at one end of a tank or at the other end of a car bomb. And while I can't say I had a better idea for taking out Saddam than Bush or his administration, I'm also wondering if we really needed to take him out to begin with...

Winning would be nice. Not great, or spectacular, or even grand. Just... nice. As we read through the names of those lost on both sides, civilian and soldier, we ask ourselves why? Was it worth it? What did we hope to accomplish? What was the point? Winning doesn't seem as important on an individual level...

These questions will need asked, and may not ever be answered. Rhetoric and propaganda from all sides of the political spectrum will attempt to appeal to our nationalism, our patriotism, our sense of pride in our country and what we stand for...

Yes, pulling out won't be "winning," at least not in the traditional sense, the Bush sense of the word. Time tables aren't victory. Leaving Iraq to it's tribal feuds and religious factions isn't success. There are no easy answers, no quick fixes, and no instructions on how to continue... Perhaps leaving is just what Iraq needs to pull itself together, to find its identity and move beyond its present state. Or maybe a pull out will lead to all-out civil war which would be our fault for starting. Or maybe, just maybe--as was the case with Russia, Korea, Vietnam, and many other wars between many other countries--war fatigue will set in and everyone will just be...

All this to say what? It sucks. The war in Iraq sucks. And "winning" isn't going to get us out, I think we all know that. Because it isn't winning we should be worried about...

Winning isn't everything. It never was, never is, and never will be.