Iraq- the war drags on...
"By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraq's most senior Sunni politician issued a desperate appeal Sunday for Arab nations to help stop what he called an "unprecedented genocide campaign" by Shiite militias armed, trained and controlled by Iran. The U.S. military reported five American soldiers were killed, apparently lured into an al-Qaida trap..."
I have been reading the news reports, opinion pieces, and commentaries on our war since the first saber rattling began. I opposed the war--somewhere way back in this blog. I opposed the policy of pre-emption. I mistrusted the assertions that the government made and continued to make about why we should act and what was actually happening. I have watched with increasing anguish and frustration over the past 18 months particularly as what seems to be the drowning of all those rationales and explanations in blood- everyone's blood.
I find myself in an unexpected space today. The American public discussion about withdrawing military forces from Iraq and 'expecting them to pick up their fair share of the burden' is, in my opinion, naive. The idea that we are going to achieve our objectives- which started out being the creation of a democracy-- seems more and more distant and naive. Despite all that, I think we have to continue to commit ourselves to Iraq and Iraq's future, including military forces. Why? Because we 'broke it, we buy it' applies. The headline from this morning's AP reminds us that we may indeed stop Al Quaeda in Iraq. But that doesn't end the problems. Our military forces (and I appreciate the candor and care Gen. Petraeus uses in talking about this) are having more success in winning the military battle against the 'foreign fighters'. They may indeed be able to bring Sunni tribal leaders to the table to help with that effort. They may knock down the high volume suicide bombing and ethnic cleansing in the areas we ramp up forces in. And that may provide a base for beginning to restore some normalcy in those areas.
But all that being said, any long term continuation of those small successes is entirely contingent on the presence of a strong military force not aligned with the myriad factions. And those small successes pale against other realities. The Iraqi government adjourned without taking significant action on issues of life and death importance. A substantial chunk of the Iraqi government has withdrawn from participation because of a lack of confidence, and the withdrawal has been sectarian in nature. Baghdad only has a short number of hours of electricity and water is in short supply---a massive issue for ordinary people. Hundreds of thousands of weapons we purchased and dollars we gave out are missing. The basic paramilitary structures on all sides are in 'hide and watch' mode by and large. We can't root them all out without cooperation from a non-aligned segment of Iraqis. Most of these have left the country. The Kurds in the north are not engaged in the conflict but would be if their interests were threatened. And the neighboring countries-Iran, Turkey, Syria-- don't share the goal of having a strong Iraq. Also an indicator is that most humanitarian and aid groups have pulled out because of the dangers. Leaving millions of men, women, and children as victims.
When we broke down the barriers that kept factionalism at bay. When we bombed the infrastructure and sent the Army home after the war. When we failed to put enough forces and resources in place to provide security and begin real rebuilding we "bought" the broken structure that remained. The Iraqi people, the ordinary people just hoping to resume normal lives, are now our responsibility if we have any moral integrity. And whether the 'war' wears us down, started for the right or the wrong reasons, and requires that we make some real sacrifice here in the States instead of leaving it to the limited abilities of our volunteer forces and national guard. Instead of trying to sell it off to private contractors the public can't hold accountable. Instead of changing the channel and speculating who will be the next American idol.
I hate coming to this conclusion. I don't really know what the answer is. But I don't believe we have the right to just walk out. We can't afford to be less than honest with ourselves on this issue. Oh, yeah....just to confirm it.
I'm a Blue Anti-war Democrat. But those labels are pretty worthless if there's no moral responsibility for our actions as a nation.
BAGHDAD - Iraq's most senior Sunni politician issued a desperate appeal Sunday for Arab nations to help stop what he called an "unprecedented genocide campaign" by Shiite militias armed, trained and controlled by Iran. The U.S. military reported five American soldiers were killed, apparently lured into an al-Qaida trap..."
I have been reading the news reports, opinion pieces, and commentaries on our war since the first saber rattling began. I opposed the war--somewhere way back in this blog. I opposed the policy of pre-emption. I mistrusted the assertions that the government made and continued to make about why we should act and what was actually happening. I have watched with increasing anguish and frustration over the past 18 months particularly as what seems to be the drowning of all those rationales and explanations in blood- everyone's blood.
I find myself in an unexpected space today. The American public discussion about withdrawing military forces from Iraq and 'expecting them to pick up their fair share of the burden' is, in my opinion, naive. The idea that we are going to achieve our objectives- which started out being the creation of a democracy-- seems more and more distant and naive. Despite all that, I think we have to continue to commit ourselves to Iraq and Iraq's future, including military forces. Why? Because we 'broke it, we buy it' applies. The headline from this morning's AP reminds us that we may indeed stop Al Quaeda in Iraq. But that doesn't end the problems. Our military forces (and I appreciate the candor and care Gen. Petraeus uses in talking about this) are having more success in winning the military battle against the 'foreign fighters'. They may indeed be able to bring Sunni tribal leaders to the table to help with that effort. They may knock down the high volume suicide bombing and ethnic cleansing in the areas we ramp up forces in. And that may provide a base for beginning to restore some normalcy in those areas.
But all that being said, any long term continuation of those small successes is entirely contingent on the presence of a strong military force not aligned with the myriad factions. And those small successes pale against other realities. The Iraqi government adjourned without taking significant action on issues of life and death importance. A substantial chunk of the Iraqi government has withdrawn from participation because of a lack of confidence, and the withdrawal has been sectarian in nature. Baghdad only has a short number of hours of electricity and water is in short supply---a massive issue for ordinary people. Hundreds of thousands of weapons we purchased and dollars we gave out are missing. The basic paramilitary structures on all sides are in 'hide and watch' mode by and large. We can't root them all out without cooperation from a non-aligned segment of Iraqis. Most of these have left the country. The Kurds in the north are not engaged in the conflict but would be if their interests were threatened. And the neighboring countries-Iran, Turkey, Syria-- don't share the goal of having a strong Iraq. Also an indicator is that most humanitarian and aid groups have pulled out because of the dangers. Leaving millions of men, women, and children as victims.
When we broke down the barriers that kept factionalism at bay. When we bombed the infrastructure and sent the Army home after the war. When we failed to put enough forces and resources in place to provide security and begin real rebuilding we "bought" the broken structure that remained. The Iraqi people, the ordinary people just hoping to resume normal lives, are now our responsibility if we have any moral integrity. And whether the 'war' wears us down, started for the right or the wrong reasons, and requires that we make some real sacrifice here in the States instead of leaving it to the limited abilities of our volunteer forces and national guard. Instead of trying to sell it off to private contractors the public can't hold accountable. Instead of changing the channel and speculating who will be the next American idol.
I hate coming to this conclusion. I don't really know what the answer is. But I don't believe we have the right to just walk out. We can't afford to be less than honest with ourselves on this issue. Oh, yeah....just to confirm it.
I'm a Blue Anti-war Democrat. But those labels are pretty worthless if there's no moral responsibility for our actions as a nation.
Comments
If the situation were different...if we had more capable leadership in OUR government, then I might have more faith that us staying there might make a difference, but at this point I don't think it will.
What really needs to happen is the same thing that needs to happen in Darfur and Burma. We need the United Nations to come in and attempt to keep the piece while the warring factions negotiate their OWN government, not the one we THINK they should have. We don't need people there defending a certain government, we need people there stopping them from shooting each other while they create the government and the country that they want.
As that's not going to happen anytime soon, I can't see a happy ending, but I don't think us staying there is helping anything at the moment.