RECOGNIZE AND THANK OUR TROOPS ON
THE 8TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

March 19th is the anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 8 years ago, our troops began a worthy and critical mission, to take out the vicious and dangerous Saddam Hussein.

It was a swift and intense campaign, but our troops were brilliantly successful at destroying the defending Iraqi Army, with almost no significant civilian casualties. It was a textbook victory from the pages of the U.S. Army Field Manual's chapter on total domination!
The next several years were tough, and unfortunately, the peace and security that followed the initial invasion was short-lived. Elements of Al-Qaeda, as well as common criminals and radical extremists who saw an opportunity to gain power, started turning the Shiites and Sunni's against each other, and carried out attacks to turn the different factions of Iraq against each other.
Thousands of innocent Iraqis died in the bombings and shootings that occurred as different factions in Iraq warred, and our troops in the middle did their best to create security and protect the population.


Eventually President Bush argued for The Surge, and sent in the troops that David Petraeus needed to enforce security, and get the support of the Iraqi tribal leaders.

It worked.

It was a tough fight, and many troops bravely sacrificed everything for their nation, but eventually the situation turned around, the violence subsided, and the streets were made safe again. Our troops trained the Iraqi Army to take security into their own hands, and with fresh troops thanks to the Anbar Awakening, the terrorists were virtually defeated.

It's an oversimplified explanation, but this is a flash history of the long 8 years of the Iraq war, but it shows how our troops succeeded and won that war. They are now coming home honorably, victoriously, as they should.

There were always some who called for retreat, for cut and run, and they would have been wrong. Our own President Obama, said The Surge would fail, and that it would make matters worse, but thankfully Obama was wrong. President Bush and General Petraeus were right about The Surge, and our troops DID WIN.



Let's take this day, the anniversary of the Iraq invasion, to reflect on what our troops did for us, and what they sacrificed to bring VICTORY.

We still have troops in Iraq, keeping peace and many more in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban. Send a care package to show your gratitude for all they have accomplished and all those who have sacrificed.