Would It Make Sense to Just Leave Iraq? (moral, evolve)

[Rex]

Would It Make Sense to Just Leave Iraq?

by William Raspberry

Is it time for America to leave Iraq? It’s not a rhetorical question, but one that goes deeply into our notions of who we are and how we wish to be seen — militarily, diplomatically, politically and morally.

I wrote recently (and disapprovingly) of the views of Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, who thought America’s problem in Iraq is too much squeamishness — a “moral cowardice” that prevents our going after insurgents and the Iraqis (including family members) who give them sanctuary.

One sentence from that column contained this thought of mine:

“Even those of us who thought President Bush made a hideous moral and military blunder in launching the war are largely sympathetic to the way he is conducting the aftermath — not because it is particularly successful but because we can’t think of anything better.”

Well, a number of people surveying the wreckage of our Iraqi policy think the better option is simply to leave.

One of the more articulate expressions of that view is an article by Naomi Klein in the Jan. 10 issue of The Nation magazine. Her point of departure is the so-called Pottery Barn rule invoked by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his prewar advice to President Bush: “You break it, you own it.”

Klein acknowledges that we’ve broken Iraq, but argues that our continued presence there doesn’t fix anything and only makes it worse. We don’t need to “own” the country, she says, only acknowledge the breakage, pay for it, and leave.

Just leave. It sounds so simple — so evocative of the advice Vermont’s Sen. George Aiken offered another president presiding over a quagmire called Vietnam: Just declare victory and go home.

Why not now? Politically, it would require a concession — confession? — that the whole thing was a mistake. President Bush seems incapable of reaching or articulating such a conclusion — unless forced to do so by a public outcry reminiscent of the Vietnam era and a diminishing ability to attract young people into the armed forces. More than 1,300 Americans troops have died in this war. What would walking away do to their families and to military morale?

What would we say to the British, the Australians and other members of the coalition that have suffered political damage and lost lives in support of our war? What friend or foe could ever again take seriously an American commitment? Even Israel might start to doubt our reliability.

What of the moral considerations? Our walking away, with or without a declaration of victory, would be a death sentence to those Iraqis who worked with us in furtherance of our announced mission to deliver democracy to Iraq.

And what, finally, of the you-break-it-you-own-it imperative (which Pottery Barn says is not its policy)?

We can argue all day that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant whose defeat and humiliation should evoke no sympathy from us. But he did have a functioning country. There was a government in place. People went to work and to the market and to school in relative safety. Can anyone really believe that the U.S.-spawned anarchy has left the Iraqi people better off? We broke it. Do we have the moral right to walk away with the shards scattered across the floor?

Do these rejoinders demolish the argument for just leaving?

Klein doesn’t think so. Our continuing presence, she argues, is a magnet for violence against the Iraqis, and our plans for elections seem calculated to spark “the civil war needed to justify an ongoing presence for U.S. troops.”

Our “staying the course” doesn’t begin to fix what we broke, but rather continues the breakage.

Is it time for us to walk away?

A surprising number of readers of this column think it is. And two have independently come up with a pretext for doing so right away. Walter Gordon in Delaware and Christina Warren in California both argue for sending either all or a substantial portion of our Iraq-based troops and resources to the tsunami-devastated region around the Indian Ocean.

It would get us out of Iraq and, given the fact that the stricken area is largely Muslim, might go a long way toward defeating the notion that we are anti-Islam.

[Sunstone]

If we leave Iraq, the country will probably devolve into a civil war. That civil war might destabalize the whole region. I think we're stuck there. I also think the current administration is going to go down in history as having created one of the larger messes in American history by having gotten us into Iraq in the first place. We're stuck there until we can figure out an exit strategy that leaves the country stable, or until we are defeated by a civil war breaking out despite our presence.

[Zionic86]

To you now it would not fit to leave iraq. But to you after this it will fit moreso.

quote: " we wish to be seen — militarily, diplomatically, politically and morally."

This is causing us problems is it not, is not the occupation in iraq causing the nation to stir?

The reason this occupation is hurting u s to the point of questioning is because we wrongly want to be seen ---- we wish to be seen — militarily, diplomatically, politically and morally.

That is not whats happening is it?

The entire concept of occupieing is where we went wrong.
To free the people from a tyrant would be good intention, this is what we are told we are doing but look at them, all we have done was put them under the tyrant of the united states.

THis is why i reason that the war is being fought under a blanket of deception.

I guarantee none of you know why george bush wants to occupy iraq, he has you reasoning what he has given you to reason so you would not reason the real reasons and disagree with him.

BLIND!

[fromthe heart]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

If we leave Iraq, the country will probably devolve into a civil war. That civil war might destabalize the whole region. I think we're stuck there. I also think the current administration is going to go down in history as having created one of the larger messes in American history by having gotten us into Iraq in the first place. We're stuck there until we can figure out an exit strategy that leaves the country stable, or until we are defeated by a civil war breaking out despite our presence.

I really agree with Sunstone...We have created a pickle and we have to find a way out of this mess...I'd still like to see some effort on bringing Osama to justice...but the mess in Iraq is just that...a mess...Bush sure wasn't thinking long range on that one...but should have given it more thought than was done.

[painted wolf]

I think that pulling out is a mistake... admiting we 'goofed' and trying to get UN help is probably the better idea. For better or worse we are stuck.

wa:do

[Master Vigil]

"I guarantee none of you know why george bush wants to occupy iraq, he has you reasoning what he has given you to reason so you would not reason the real reasons and disagree with him."

I was somewhat impressed by your post until I read this. Again you claim to know things that everyon does not. You are somehow above us all. Sorry, it just destroyed the rest of your moderately ok post.

[linwood]

I guarantee none of you know why george bush wants to occupy iraq, he has you reasoning what he has given you to reason so you would not reason the real reasons and disagree with him.

Thats it!!

He`s tricked me into agreeing with him!!

What gibberish.

[RangerTwigz]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

I think that pulling out is a mistake... admiting we 'goofed' and trying to get UN help is probably the better idea. For better or worse we are stuck.

wa:do

I agree painted wolf. It wont provide America with a fast and easy exit
but it would be nice for George Bush to be humble and ask for help for stablising the country, whether he does it for the greater good of Iraq's future or just to get critics off his back and a chance for the USA to exit their ties with this war.

[huajiro]

Would you keep spanking your child even after you realized he has done nothing wrong?

[Mr Spinkles]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

I also think the current administration is going to go down in history as having created one of the larger messes in American history by having gotten us into Iraq in the first place.

In a just world, Saddam Hussein would go down in history as having created one of the larger messes in American history by refusing to cooperate with U.N. inspectors, necessitating the use of force.

We do need to get out of Iraq...the question is when. I think we'll gradually pull our forces out as more and more Iraqi soldiers and policemen are trained....but this will probably be a long process.

but it would be nice for George Bush to be humble and ask for help for stablising the country

Are you saying Bush isn't asking for help in stabilizing the country? I could have sworn his administration was pleading on Iraq's behalf for forgiveness of its debts to Western nations...