Wars never really end when the generals and politicians "shake on it." Remember the first world catastrophe? It was supposed to end on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. But along the eastern front, battles waged for weeks as different outfits fought for territory in the coming post-war years. The blasts over Japan didn't completely end the second version of last century's world wars. Japanese soldiers held out for years on several islands the Americans didn't find important enough to capture.
Boat people after Vietnam. Bushwackers and guerilla confederates after the American Civil War. In all the history of wars, have any just ended when the press release came out?
Iraq's prime minister gave the world some good news over the weekend. The war against the Islamic State is at an official end, if only officially. ISIS no longer controls territory in Iraq. Last month, it was officially driven from its last building in Syria. After three long years of war, the clean-up has begun.
Not that there won't be more weapons fired in anger. There certainly will be. A few hours before Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made his announcement, a car bomb blew apart a block in Tikrit. The rats will keep probing, looking for an opening. (As if to make the point, as this was being written, somebody set off a pipe bomb in New York City, injuring several. The papers say a suspect is in custody.)
"The flag of Iraq is flying high today over all Iraqi territory and at the farthest point on the border," the prime minister said. It's okay to celebrate at this time. A war is over. What is more deserving of celebration?
But the rebuilding is going to take years.
ISIS was a particularly destructive disease. It not only stoned women and beheaded men, it took down buildings. They really were trying to go back centuries. About 3 million people remain homeless in places that ISIS held. One estimate said it'll cost $150 billion to replace what was lost. And Iraq's struggling government faces not only security threats (it's a rough neighborhood) and an economic crisis (after years of war), but a rebuilding that'll look a lot like western Europe in the late 1940s.
Also, generals among the Iraqi forces are prepping for a long-term battle with what remains of ISIS. The bitter-enders are expected to remain as an underground terrorist threat for years.
Officially, ISIS is beat. But it's the unofficial and unlawful combatants, aka terrorists, that the Iraqi government will have to find now.
Welcome to the unhappy club, Baghdad. And keep up the good fight.
Editorial on 12/12/2017