Iraq: The Future Awaits Us

The Solution in Iraq is to Choose Between Two Terrible Choices

By Jim Stillman, published Sep 20, 2006
Published Content: 160  Total Views: 86,893  Favorited By: 46 CPs
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The President and his administration state that, to leave Iraq precipitously would create more chaos in the middle-east, would result in a loss of credibility with respect to the Unites States and would encourage terrorist states such as Syria and Iran (as well as North Korea) to intensify their efforts to support and export terror. Moreover, the inevitable civil war in Iraq would result in even more instability in the region. This would conceivably translate into greater danger to this country.

They are right.

The administration's critics assert that continuing our present activities in Iraq spreads our resources too thin, preventing us from giving meaningful attention to terrorist-supporting states such as Iran, Syria, and even Saudi Arabia, and from focusing on the Israel-Palestinian quagmire, endangering the only true democracy in the region. This is to say nothing of the killed and wounded Americas engaged in Iraq, as well as the thousands of civilian Iraqis. As to civil war in Iraq, it is upon us now.

They are right, too.

So what is the solution.? It is clear that the administration entered into a war in Iraq based on faulty intelligence or, if one is a cynic, a desire to compensate for presidential low testosterone and a desire to retaliate against an admittedly bad guy who had an issue with Bush the elder. Unfortunately, it is too late to revisit the start of the war. Keeping the focus on how or why we became involved serves only to cloud what we must do now,

It seems to me that we must, first, punish those who got us into this mess and their apologists - through ineptitude or malice - by denying them re-election.

Second, we must choose the lesser of the two unfortunate results. That would be to leave Iraq to its own fate. If the present Iraqi government cannot prevent civil war and create a peaceful society, that has to be its problem. The only unity in Iraq now is the near-universal hatred of America!

The administration claims that it's goal is to introduce democracy into the region

Takeaways
  • The latest Senate report clearly establishes that there was no link between Iraq and 9/11
Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 9 of 9
 
 
Adam, you and I will continue our disagreement as to whether entry into the Iraqi affairs was a mistake. I find it interesting that, two years after this article was written and published, the choices available to extradite ourselves remain the same.

Posted on 07/18/2008 at 8:07:24 AM

 
Iraq will prove to be a great decision, no doubt.

Posted on 07/17/2008 at 10:07:37 PM

 
And with coalition forces fighting for the freedom of Iraqis, they have a chance of gaining access to the net and Visa cards. They've already had an election. They just have to get used to how it works, for better or worse. And you want to pull out now? Look what happened in Sudan when the British did the same thing. We should learn from history and not repeat those mistakes.

Posted on 04/09/2007 at 10:04:00 AM

 
Imposing democracy is, I suppose, not inconceivable in the middle east, but the region cannot compare with, for example, Japan after 1945. In the middle-east, except for Israel, you have a poorly educated people with no history of democracy, tolerance of other religious views, meaningful non-theological education or being subject to a ruling government that, bloated with oil profits, gives a hoot about them. It appears that Iraq will end up with partitioning after a civil war and, perhaps, international help and mediation. I have little hope that the Saudis and Syria and Iran and the rest will accept western civilization. Not only will they not accept our values, they apparently won't even accept our concept of a well educated populace. The only hope is that the masses will get access to the Internet and western news sources. Maybe the idea of a Visa or Master Card life will causes the walls to fall.

Posted on 11/09/2006 at 10:11:00 AM

 
Jim, you say you can't impose democracy on a nation, but it seemed to work with Japan. It took a little time, granted, but it worked. With the mid-East it will take longer. Those guys are still living in the 12th century and they're not going to change overnight. Israel is the only democracy in the region at this time. How great would it be if Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Syria saw the light and became truly democratic? The longest walk begins with the first step.

Posted on 11/08/2006 at 3:11:00 PM

 
I don't understand why the government (President) thinks he has the right to tell other countries and religions that Democracy is the only way to live. Sure, it is wonderful here in a Democratic Society, but we don't have the right to make others think the way we do, and it sure isn't right to disregard our hungy, poor, suffering, here at home and spend trillions of dollars somewhere else.

Posted on 10/13/2006 at 3:10:00 PM

 
Lets get out of there, and defend our border here at home. We have the vast Atlantic between us and them, with all those troops home, that should be easy to defend. We will need decades to pay off the money Bush has borrowed, so lets cut the expense now. No matter how long we stay, there will be no additional thank-you, or repayment...only a swift kick in the rear as we leave.

Posted on 09/27/2006 at 7:09:00 PM

 
I agree with what you say,but wonder what it means to "help them". We should assist in reconstructing the infrastructure that we have destroyed but "helping" won't bring democracy to the region. We assume that if only the root causes of terrorism, as we see them, illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, were eliminated, the people would rush to western democracy. It won't happen. The Islamic terrorists have examined democracy and find it inconsistant with their values, culture and faith. They reject it. Maybe the best we can hope for is a kind of "cold war", with each side realistic enough to accept Mutual Assured Distruction (a phrase from the 50's and 60's).

Posted on 09/21/2006 at 6:09:00 AM

 
We have an obligation to Iraq now, to try to help put back together what humpty-bush has pushed off the wall, the hard question is, how to do that? Start by admitting the mistakes, and trying to help them. The first mistake we need to admit is our president...

Posted on 09/20/2006 at 9:09:00 PM

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