Iraq: History repeating itself?

A dire crisis is happening in Iraq. A well-armed group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is sweeping across Iraq in blitzkrieg fashion from Syria, and taking whole cities like Mosul and Tikrit (Fallujah was taken by ISIS earlier this year) in the process. Now, their big prize – Baghdad – appears to be next.

Baghdad is a city of more than 7 million people, comprising a mix of Shiite and Sunni Muslims, as well as Christian and other ethic and tribal groups. It is a bitter pill to swallow watching it all unfold over there as these radical militants take city after city.

The militants are parading through the streets with U.S. weapons and vehicles captured from Iraqi armed forces. Following a recent bank robbery, ISIS troops are also now flush with more than $450 million in U.S. dollars, making ISIS the richest terrorist group on the planet.

All that work, all that training given to them by us, all that gear, seemingly gone out the window. Was it all for nothing?

Let us not forget, too, all that blood spilled and limbs mangled or blown to pieces. There are hidden scars and wounds from that conflict still evident today among veterans, including me with post-traumatic stress syndrome, a result of my time spent there.

But I can never forget the lives lost. Such a high cost for a war mired in controversy, that seemed to go on forever. In reality it was close to eight years.

ISIS, a group so brutal and radical that they were kicked out of Al- Qaeda, are proudly filming the wholesale slaughter of their captured Shiite Iraqi army prisoners.

This is religious sectarian violence on steroids, and there are reports that reprisals have already been committed against Sunni Iraqis in the region. This could spell the end for all involved if this madness continues.

This also reminds me of another time, another bloody final end of a war decades ago: the fall of South Vietnam to the forces of their bitter rival – the North Vietnamese army.

Is this fate in store for Iraq? Or will they rally, stand their ground and fight back? I have heard they are trying to do just that.

Then there is Iran. There have been reports that the predominantly Shiite country may step in and help defend Iraq from the advances of ISIS. Iran’s theocracy has been talking quite a bit with the current Iraqi administration, which is a majority Shiite-run operation.

The Sunni faction has been slowly pushed out of power, which is a mistake on the part of the Iraqi government because it helped to create the mess they are in now.

If Iran does step in. It would create a troubling mix of bedfellows, with the U.S., Iraq and Iran sharing a common cause – pushing ISIS back into Syria.

What would be the outcome of such an alliance? And is it in our best interests to be a part of it?

And what should our involvement be in this? I don’t want to see ground troops going back into that mess. I think we have done enough in Iraq.

This time the Iraqis themselves need to stand their ground. We did all that we could over there. If any actions are required, it should be very limited in scope and scale.

The president has been talking on such points. He has sent in an aircraft carrier and support ships to the region. Special forces have been dispatched to our embassy in Iraq to aid in security and possible evacuation.

It is a fluid situation. Anything can happen.

I believe that we should not get sucked into yet another conflict there. Two wars in Iraq are enough. I hope that it doesn’t end with another iconic image seared into our collective memory: a lone helicopter perched on top of the U.S. embassy; A file of evacuees going up a staircase to it, while rotors turn at flight idle, waiting for the last of them to board the aircraft, while bloodshed takes place in human sea of chaos and war.

That image of the last flight out of Vietnam taken during the fall of Saigon in 1975 has been going through my mind the entire time I have been writing this. It must not happen again. What will be the ultimate fate for Iraq? God only knows.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.