Iraq - Should we stay or should we go?
I was a supporter of the invasion of Iraq, and I still am today. I was never a supporter just because of WMD’s. While I did believe he had WMD’s, and though his previous behavior with inspectors was indicative of someone who had something to hide, it appears Saddam was only hiding his non WMD’s from his generals. These possible weapons, though, were not my main reason for wanting to go to Iraq. Simply put, I think leaving homicidal dictactors in power is a bad thing. Leaving homicidal dictators in power in the Middle East is an even worse thing. So, while people can argue about strategy and our planning, it doesn’t change the fact that I think it was the right thing to do.
Now we find ourselves four years into an unpopular war, with both our political parties failing us all in any attempt to resolve it. The main lesson of Vietnam was not to play politics with war, and here we are thirty years later with both parties playing politics with war. Lately, I’ve been wondering should we stay, or is it time to cut our losses and leave. It wasn’t easy but I think I can be happy with it.
Republicans have accused Democrats of a “cut-and-run” attitude towards Iraq. They’re only half right. What the Democrats are really proposing is “cut-and-forget.” What are they forgetting? The 26 million Iraq’s who have gone from the rapacious dictatorship of Saddam to the incompetent elected government of Maliki. What do Democrats think will happen once we leave? They say it’s a civil war now, that it’s not our fight. Fine. So, because Democrats are afraid of conflict, 26 million Iraq’s could suffer indefinitely. Very nice.
The Republicans have been constantly going on about “sending the wrong message to the terrorists.” It’s not about the terrorists. The terrorists aren’t going to beat us. Stop worrying about what the terrorists think. The terrorists in Iraq are a bunch of cowardly, religious, whack jobs. Forget them, and start worrying about the *people of Iraq.* You know, the people we liberated? This isn’t even about “winning” any more. Win what? We beat Saddam’s army. The terrorists aren’t going to win. What we need to do is focus on getting the Iraqi people a real government. Republicans need to stop with the byline
So what did I conclude? We should stay. Not to “Stay the Course™” or to avoid “Cut-and-Run™”. Simply because the people of Iraq deserve a chance. We probably need a new strategy, but I doubt one will happen while both parties are more worried about appearance than subtance.
