Fifty miles in Pennsylvania could measure almost the distance from Philadelphia to the Lehigh Valley. For the troops pushing towards the Iraqi city of Bahgdad, 50 miles means the difference between victory or defeat. On Tuesday April 1, the decision was made to push those 50 miles.
From the start of the war, prior to the ground attacks, the United States stunned Iraq with its “shock and awe” campaign. ” The U.S. has virtually total air superiority. Air is critical. The United States enjoys this,” history and political science professor Jolyon Girard said.
The American people, as well as the civilian levels of government, feel that the war was going to be a “cake-walk” according to Dr. James Hedtke, chair of the history political science department. “Bottom line, I do not think the U.S. military ever thought it would as they led to people to believe,” Hedtke said.
“The Iraqi regime is very dangerous, not only to its own citizens, but to its neighboring nations as well. The American people should now support their troops who are working to succeed in eliminating this terror,” senior history political science major, William Murphy said.
According to Hedtke, as the United States moves towards its goal of liberating the people of Iraq, they must also convince the countries natives that this war is not for invasion, but for the true meaning of freeing the people from the dangerous Iraqi regime.
The aftermath of this war is very important, according to Girard. “Will the Iraqi people rise and support the actions as a liberation, or will they see it as an invasion and resist the conquest,” Girard said. “Winning this war is the easy part, what happens after is what is difficult,” Hedtke said.
posted to the web by Alaina Robinson