Back on October 17 I said this about the situation in Iraq:
We’ve got to get out of there. Now. It would be far cheaper and safer to simply give Iraq the money it needs to rebuild. Send the National Guard home where it belongs, let half of the regular Army rest, and redeploy the other half to Afghanistan. I’m no military strategist, but this is obvious.
War correspondent Joseph Galloway is also saying that we need to leave. Now. Click here.
What we need to do is what none of the commissions and their reports dared to suggest: Begin withdrawing American forces from Iraq right now. Not in 2008. Not after the American death toll has crossed 5,000. Not just in time for a presidential election.
There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there’s only one way to leave Iraq: Load our people up on their trucks and tank transporters and Bradleys and Humvees and head for the border. Now.
Sheesh! Your comments are better than my posts, Liz. You blog, and I’ll comment! 😉
I’ve been thinking about this post since it was first put up on the blog. Not that I disagree with it, mind you. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to say, until now.
Here’s a line from the front page of my newspaper today, a story coming from the Gaza Strip: “Rival factions Hamas and Fatah are fighting for control over the Palestinian government…” Gee, sound familiar? Like the Shiites and Sunnis fighting in Iraq for control there? Saudi Arabia recently warned that if the Shiites win control of Iraq, they will get involved in the civil war by helping the Sunnis.
It’s so sad to say this, but I fear that the only difference between leaving Iraq now and leaving Iraq later is how many Americans will die there. I don’t say this because Iraqi lives somehow don’t count. Of course they do!!! But we simply can not stop Shiites and Sunnis who are determined to kill each other over control of their own country. I fear that no matter what we do, whenever we withdraw – sooner or later – it will be like the fall of Saigon all over again. May God help them all…I really don’t think that the United States can.
I know this was not George Bush’s intent, but he and his administration have helped to destabilize the Middle East. I suspect that Colin Powell clearly warned the President of this very serious risk. Well, we rolled that dice…and in my opinion, we’ve lost. I believe that if the U.S. government spent more money on a comprehensive understanding of Muslim history, all its religious factions, Islamic cultures, and training diplomats and linguists, our foreign policy would improve greatly, and we would make fewer mistakes in both international political policy and military actions.
Let our prayers this Christmas time be not only for our own servicemen overseas, but all those suffering as a result of tribalism or civil war.