The Saturday before last, Marine Cpl. Adrian Soltau called his father to tell him that his next mission would be his last before he returned home after his second tour of duty. But last Monday, Adrian Soltau was killed by an explosion in fighting around Fallujah, Iraq.
Adrian's is only one of 24 names of fallen American soldiers that the Department of Defense released last week, and he is only one of 1,027 U.S. service members who have fallen since the invasion began. And that doesn't count the reporters, contractors, coalition members and Iraqis themselves who have also lost their lives in the conflict. With such numbers, it is too easy for any one soldier to fade into the crowd. But Adrian was a 21 year old from Milwaukee, Wis. and for this 21 year old from Milwaukee, his death hits very close to home.
Adrian's service was heroic, but I can't say the same for the policies of his commander in chief that have left his and many other families grieving. The Bush Doctrine of Preventative War is essentially this: America should invade those countries that dislike us and might someday be able to attack us. This security strategy is simply not sustainable for three reasons: First, the list of nations that fit that description is too long for even the United States to invade all of them. Moreover, old-fashioned deterrence works. After all, the only wars Saddam Hussein started occurred after we signaled that we would stand by or give our explicit support.
Second, as the Iraq case study shows, the Bush Doctrine just doesn't work. While President Bush may want to transform the Middle East into a democracy, a newly leaked report from his own intelligence council shows that we now risk an Iraqi civil war. When even Republicans like Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Dick Lugar of Indiana are criticizing the administration's handling of the war, you know that this isn't a partisan issue: it's a fact.
Third, the Bush Doctrine is not sustainable because it seriously disables our ability to fight the people who actually attacked us -- al Qaeda. The rush to war in Iraq diverted critical resources from the war against al Qaeda, letting Osama bin Laden and top deputies escape. Our rush to war in Iraq, with little to no planning for the occupation, failed to secure Saddam's bombs, guns and bullets. These weapons were then used by al Qaeda affiliates to carry out terrorist attacks in Turkey.
Similarly, the administration's failure to plan for the occupation has required the deployment of National Guard troops who should be at home guarding our nation's infrastructure. Most significantly, our invasion of Iraq has been Osama bin Laden's greatest recruiting tool since the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan.
Thus, the simple fact is that the decision to invade Iraq has left America less, not more, secure.
Defeating al Qaeda will require more than the simplistic thinking that reduces the complexity of world politics into the following two statements: we are always righteous, and anyone who disagrees is evil. This is the type of thinking that mistakenly guided us into Iraq and shaped our faulty expectations of how the war would run. Ignoring nuance in foreign policy may play well politically for the president, but for our soldiers it has been deadly.
If we don't have a sustainable security strategy soon, the war against al Qaeda will be a conflict our generation faces our entire lifetime, a conflict that our children are going to be fighting when they are Adrian's age.
What's a sustainable security strategy? We must hunt down al Qaeda terrorists and capture or kill them, and strengthen our special forces to better accomplish this top priority. We must rebuild our alliances and stature in the world. We must restructure and improve our intelligence capabilities. We must secure our vulnerable infrastructure at home. And we must rebuild the economies of the Middle East to alleviate the desperate poverty that gives teachings of radical Muslims their visceral impact and effectiveness.
These suggestions may seem like common sense, but it's a common sense that this administration has largely lacked, and it is the type of common sense that we may need a change of presidents to fully exercise.
True, President Bush is finally taking action on intelligence reform, and the president is expected to propose new humanitarian initiatives in a speech today to the United Nations. We can only pray that when the president speaks this time, he gives the world more than the hollow words and broken promises that have become a trademark of his administration. We can only pray that the president is finally changing to a sustainable security strategy to keep Americans safe.
Why? Because while I was partying on Saturday night, Adrian was suiting up in body armor and strapping on his gun. Because while I was sitting on class on Monday, Adrian lay dying in a distant land. Because Adrian isn't the only casualty from my hometown or from yours, and because if the administration continues its current policies, he is not likely to be the last.
Kevin Collins is a junior Political Science major from Milwaukee. ...And Justice For All appears on Tuesdays.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.