A Winning Way Out of Iraq
In recent weeks thousands of people in several cities marched in protest of the war in Iraq, demanding that the Democratic-controlled Congress find a way to end it, and end it fast. Just this morning I received an e-mail from Panama Bob, one of this column’s few devoted readers, telling me of an Internet conversation he had with old friend and retired newsman, Bud Liebes. “In saying hello, I asked Bud for his thoughts on Iraq and what he said struck me like a lightning bolt:
`We should leave Iraq before 2008 and pledge to help rebuild the infrastructure that we destroyed, help rebuild and equip their hospitals and help train the medical staff and technicians.`” Bob continues: “Putting aside the fact that it's the right thing to do, what Bud is saying is our ticket out. It would let the world know the United States has regained its common sense while not losing its conscience. It would put us in a position to leave with some honor, and the ability to return in some form. It's what America is waiting to hear.”
When I read this, it made me wonder how we can have so many smart people on Capitol Hill working 24-7 on that one issue and whose political lives depend on finding a solution yet they can’t arrive at so simple and profound a way out of that horrible mess as these two guys have come up with exchanging e-mails. Panama Bob has even drafted the resolution for ending the war:
However good our citizen's intentions, however cruel the reign of Saddam Hussein, and however devious the administration's reasons for entering us into a war in Iraq, we have unleashed several thousand years of tribal animosity and hatred that we can't hope to control.
What's clear is that Iraq is embroiled in a sad and cruel civil war we can no longer hope to mediate. What's clear is that there is more chance for peace in Iraq if we are not patrolling the streets. What's finally, painfully clear, is that whatever we do now, somebody will suffer for it.
The most reasonable thing we can do is pull to the sidelines in hopes that those engaged in Iraq's civil war as well as their various allies in the Arab war will see that their best hope lies in peaceful co-existence.
There is not the slightest hint that even one more day of American participation and shedding of blood will advance the prospect of peace by so much as an hour.
What's most painfully clear to we Americans, though, is that from the perspective of the average Iraqi citizen, that we are the proximate cause that the comparative peace they had before 2003 no longer exists.
With that in mind, as America withdraws from its well-intentioned but futile mission in the streets of Baghdad and throughout Iraq, we must acknowledge a responsibility. We say this to the people of Iraq and their neighbors: We pray you can restore civil sanity. We pray you can bring peace to your streets.
And when you do, we pledge to help, to the best of our ability, some of t he unintended consequences of our effort to lift Iraq from the yoke of Saddam Hussein's tyranny. When you achieve peace, as we hope is inevitable, we pledge to help rebuild Iraq's shattered infrastructure. We pledge to help restore drinking water, power and medical facilities.
It may be that Iraq was not--perhaps may never be--ready for a Western style Democracy. It is unarguable that there are those who helped us with our attempts will be in danger of their lives, and it is our pledge to help relocate them until such time as Iraq welcomes them back.
Everything about our efforts in Iraq have been well-meaning at least on the part of the American people, and tragic in their implementation and their consequences. We do not intend to give up the battle against those who would bring their terror to our shores. To remain strong, to not be drained or discouraged in that fight, is in our self-interest. However, accomplishing that requires charting a new course that repudiates those who embarked so recklessly and untruthfully into war four years ago; a venture that has been cruelest, above all, in its utter lack of planning and foresight.
We, however, have no cause for shame or reason to apologize concerning what the people of America thought we were attempting and would indeed accomplish. That is the past, although there are still those who need to be held accountable.
Today: America--and the world--looks to us for new direction: looks for what we like to think of as our trademark: common sense combined with compassion and responsibility. Nothing could more convince the American public and the world that we have regained our common sense without losing our conscience and compassion...as what I have outlined today. There are many nations in the Mid-East whose people look to us for assistance, and we should not withhold that assistance. However, it should not be aid that leaves their loved ones dead and their homes in rubble.
There is the new, infinitely more difficult, course we must embark upon. Among our many priorities and obligations, none is more important that removing our soldiers from harm's way in a hopeless mission. That is our first goal. From there, with God's help and the good will of others, everything else is possible.
`We should leave Iraq before 2008 and pledge to help rebuild the infrastructure that we destroyed, help rebuild and equip their hospitals and help train the medical staff and technicians.`” Bob continues: “Putting aside the fact that it's the right thing to do, what Bud is saying is our ticket out. It would let the world know the United States has regained its common sense while not losing its conscience. It would put us in a position to leave with some honor, and the ability to return in some form. It's what America is waiting to hear.”
When I read this, it made me wonder how we can have so many smart people on Capitol Hill working 24-7 on that one issue and whose political lives depend on finding a solution yet they can’t arrive at so simple and profound a way out of that horrible mess as these two guys have come up with exchanging e-mails. Panama Bob has even drafted the resolution for ending the war:
However good our citizen's intentions, however cruel the reign of Saddam Hussein, and however devious the administration's reasons for entering us into a war in Iraq, we have unleashed several thousand years of tribal animosity and hatred that we can't hope to control.
What's clear is that Iraq is embroiled in a sad and cruel civil war we can no longer hope to mediate. What's clear is that there is more chance for peace in Iraq if we are not patrolling the streets. What's finally, painfully clear, is that whatever we do now, somebody will suffer for it.
The most reasonable thing we can do is pull to the sidelines in hopes that those engaged in Iraq's civil war as well as their various allies in the Arab war will see that their best hope lies in peaceful co-existence.
There is not the slightest hint that even one more day of American participation and shedding of blood will advance the prospect of peace by so much as an hour.
What's most painfully clear to we Americans, though, is that from the perspective of the average Iraqi citizen, that we are the proximate cause that the comparative peace they had before 2003 no longer exists.
With that in mind, as America withdraws from its well-intentioned but futile mission in the streets of Baghdad and throughout Iraq, we must acknowledge a responsibility. We say this to the people of Iraq and their neighbors: We pray you can restore civil sanity. We pray you can bring peace to your streets.
And when you do, we pledge to help, to the best of our ability, some of t he unintended consequences of our effort to lift Iraq from the yoke of Saddam Hussein's tyranny. When you achieve peace, as we hope is inevitable, we pledge to help rebuild Iraq's shattered infrastructure. We pledge to help restore drinking water, power and medical facilities.
It may be that Iraq was not--perhaps may never be--ready for a Western style Democracy. It is unarguable that there are those who helped us with our attempts will be in danger of their lives, and it is our pledge to help relocate them until such time as Iraq welcomes them back.
Everything about our efforts in Iraq have been well-meaning at least on the part of the American people, and tragic in their implementation and their consequences. We do not intend to give up the battle against those who would bring their terror to our shores. To remain strong, to not be drained or discouraged in that fight, is in our self-interest. However, accomplishing that requires charting a new course that repudiates those who embarked so recklessly and untruthfully into war four years ago; a venture that has been cruelest, above all, in its utter lack of planning and foresight.
We, however, have no cause for shame or reason to apologize concerning what the people of America thought we were attempting and would indeed accomplish. That is the past, although there are still those who need to be held accountable.
Today: America--and the world--looks to us for new direction: looks for what we like to think of as our trademark: common sense combined with compassion and responsibility. Nothing could more convince the American public and the world that we have regained our common sense without losing our conscience and compassion...as what I have outlined today. There are many nations in the Mid-East whose people look to us for assistance, and we should not withhold that assistance. However, it should not be aid that leaves their loved ones dead and their homes in rubble.
There is the new, infinitely more difficult, course we must embark upon. Among our many priorities and obligations, none is more important that removing our soldiers from harm's way in a hopeless mission. That is our first goal. From there, with God's help and the good will of others, everything else is possible.
posted by Victor Kamber | 3:42 PM
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