American soldiers on the ground in Iraq successfully carried out their duties two decades ago, but the United States lost the mission there due to bureaucrats in Washington D.C., Rep. Guy Reschenthaler told Newsmax on Monday.
The Pennsylvania Republican, who served in Iraq, spoke to Newsmax's "Wake Up America" on the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein and locate weapons of mass destruction.
"When we went into Iraq in order to remove Saddam Hussein from power, as he was a threat to the entire region," Reschenthaler said. "We also had an idea that we were going to stabilize and democratize Iraq."
Reschenthaler reiterated that "we lost the mission not in Iraq, but in Washington D.C. It was really unelected career bureaucrats ... that made atrocious decisions to hand over power much too quickly to the Iraqis."
Reschenthaler also said the war was lost due to "top military brass that constantly sold out and undermined the efforts of the men and women that were actually on the ground fighting the war."
Reschenthaler said it was an attainable goal to democratize and stabilize Iraq. He pointed out that such American missions in the past were achieved in Japan, South Korea, and following the fall of Nazi Germany, even though those efforts often took many years to bring success.
Reschenthaler also commented on the possible indictment against former President Donald Trump, saying that if it happens, it would be another example of the ongoing witch hunt against Trump, as well as the two-tier system of justice that exists for Democrats and Republicans.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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