Exiting Iraq

by Harrold "Haole" A`hole

Bush and his cabal tell us that the U.S. cannot "cut and run" because it will encourage terrorists who will take over Iraq. If we leave, the country will fall into civil war (because they insist the sectarian war isn't civil, I'd have to guess) He insists we must "stay the course."

Unfortunately, it seems we should not even be on that course based on the hyped charges of Saddam's Iraq being involved in global terrorism and al Qaeda, and it's purported WMD and nuclear threat to the U.S. While others may have believed Iraq had hidden WMD, few others believed that a war was the solution. The U.N. embargos had crippled Iraq for a decade, it was stuck in a no-fly zone over much of its country, and nuclear and weapons inspections apparently worked well.

It's a shame that when Bush declared "mission accomplished," he didn't end the mission then. We really had accomplished our goals, but his clueless cabal failed to believe that we couldn't control a country with too few troops, too far away, in a land we don't understand, among people who do not share American values.

And most disappointingly of all, a self-proclaimed Christian president and GOP understand Jesus's extremely difficult teaching to "turn and offer the other cheek" to mean to viciously attack and kill people who you can imagine might slap you.

But what to do now that the daily killings and bombings and mass destruction of property have turned Iraq into a nation that is less safe than when a brutal tyrant was in control? What to do now with a country that is filled with local and foreign terrorists who are killing Iraqis and American troops and exporting terror to neighbors? What to do with a country that has re-divided itself on ancient tribal and religious sects? What to do with a new government that runs its own gulags and tortures its own people and continues to create new mass graves with the aid of American bombs and bulldozers? What to do with a war of choice that enriches Iran through high oil prices and encourages its mean-spirited rulers while hurting our own pocketbooks? Isn't Iraq supposedly ruled by Iraqis now?

It's time to leave and let them rule themselves.

Unlike the specious Bush assertions, a pull-out doesn't need to be "cut and run." It doesn't mean surrender. It doesn't mean the terrorists have won. It doesn't mean more Americans and Iraqis must die or be wounded in an ignorant attempt to honor those already dead or wounded.

To exit Iraq and still remain strong, the U.S. should do the following:

• Announce that the U.S. is leaving Iraq starting immediately and that the U.N. and other neighboring countries should help Iraq resolve its ongoing security concerns.
• Remind neighboring countries that the U.S. will not tolerate meddling that leads to increasing civil war.
• Announce that the pull-out will require 6 months (or whatever is logistically reasonable) as Iraqi forces, the U.N. or others continue to improve Iraq's ability to secure its nation.
• Announce that the U.S. has done all it can do by eliminating a mass murdering tyrant and allowing the Iraqi people to vote for its rulers. Saddam's trial is underway, and the rest of the old leadership is either dead or in prison.
• Point out that the U.S. has spent over $200+ billion dollars trying to rebuild Iraq, but that Iraqis have failed to show sufficient desire to use that money to reconstruct the nation and instead allows in-fighting and terrorism to run rampant and destroy all that could be achieved. The U.S. has spent as much as was spent to rebuild Germany and Japan after World War II, and those nations used that aid to benefit themselves, not to destroy their own property and people on a daily basis.
• Announce that the pull-out will allow the U.S. to resume its focus on other rogue nations, al Qaeda, and all other terrorist organizations.
• Point out that the U.S. was able to overthrow the Taliban and the Baathist regimes in just a few weeks via its superior air power, and that should any other nation become a threat to the U.S., those governments will also be toppled. Countries can choose to live in peace with its people and neighbors or they can be destroyed by fire to hopefully create a fertile soil in which a new nation can germinate.
• Point out that Afghanistan has done a better job of using the benefits of liberation provided by the U.S., and that Iraq would do well to also come to its senses and use this great opportunity to restore their pride, improve their economy and rejoin the world of just nations.
• Point out that the U.S. is leaving without taking Iraq's oil.
• Point out that the U.S. is leaving without destroying Islam.
• Point out that the U.S. will only have a military base within Iraq if the Iraqi government gives it permission.

While it is likely that Iraq will not be able to fix itself because of the poor planning and execution this time, it is not the job of the U.S. to ensure that other countries are ruled the way Americans would like them to be ruled. Sometimes it takes a civil war to change a country for the better, to use a civil war to end a great injustice. The choice is theirs so long as they do not become a threat to others.

Furthermore, the U.S. will no longer attempt to secure or provide any aid to any nation that is overthrown because of its threatening actions unless its citizens accept and actively promote the presence of those troops, promote their own security, and use our generous aid to improve their nation. Such countries are responsible for themselves and their own actions, and the U.S. will only use its forces to protect itself, remove threatening regimes, destroy terrorist camps and provide aid to those who want to help themselves.

This is an exit strategy that will get the U.S. out of a civil war that it cannot control or win, just as it could not in Vietnam. It allows the U.S. to secure itself without having to resort to long term ground forces that are hard to protect when the people do not openly support their presence. It allows the U.S. to spend its money and risk its troops' lives actually protecting the U.S. rather than increasing animosity towards the U.S. It allows the U.S. to focus on actual threats to U.S. interests.

And it removes a huge reason for Iraqi terrorists and insurgents who battle daily. Are Iraqis able to take care of themselves? Do Iraqis want to live in peace? Do Iraqis want better lives for themselves and their children? The time is now for them to stand up and prove to the world whether Iraqis are a great people or not. The U.S. will not be a baby sitter to unruly, ungrateful children.

There's no pride in occupation, but there certainly can be pride in self rule. It's time to let Iraq rule itself and return to the proud nation that lies within its people.