VI Day

VI - Victory in Iraq Day - is an initiative of the venerable photo-blogger Zombie. The date Zombie chose was actually yesterday, 22 November, 2008. Zombie's rationale:

By every measure, The United States and coalition forces have conclusively defeated all enemies in Iraq, pacified the country, deposed the previous regime, successfully helped to establish a new functioning democratic government, and suppressed any lingering insurgencies. The war has come to an end. And we won.

What more indication do you need? An announcement from the outgoing Bush administration? It's not gonna happen. An announcement from the incoming Obama administration? That's really not gonna happen. A declaration of victory by the media? Please. Don't make me laugh. A concession of surrender by what few remaining insurgents remain in hiding? Forget about it.

I was initially skeptical about this, as evidenced by my being a day late with this. Not because I don't think we won - we clearly did - but because of my fears that the incoming Obama administration might negate that victory. But I see a certain logic in identifying a specific day now on which we mark the successful end of the Iraq war.

As things stand now, a mostly stable Iraq with a functioning government will be turned over to the Obama administration in less than two months. A failure in Iraq after that will fall squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama.

So, yes. Let's mark 11/22/2008 as Victory in Iraq Day, with a clear message to Obama not to fuck it up.