In another forum, poster “Bylinepjw” writes on July 10, regarding Iraq:
“John McCain is either in or just returning from Iraq. As has been reported, his presidential campaign is dead in the water, perhaps because he has supported the “surge.” … I sort of expect McCain to return from Iraq having seen the light. I think he might say his visit made it clear to him that the escalation is only yielding more American deaths and that Iraq’s leaders aren’t toting their fair share of the load.”
“We gotta get out. How we get out without harming our already shattered reputation around the globe, or turning the country into more of a black morass than it already is, or leading to even more death and suffering, is beyond me. We’re in a no-win here, so far as I can see. I don’t know how to fix it. I only know who is responsible for putting us here.” — Bylinepjw, http://forums.wausaudailyherald.com/viewtopic.php?t=5605
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Like the old protest ballad:
“We gotta get out …” (of this place … if it’s the last thing we ever do ….)
Certainly a quite human reaction to any situation one feels personally in the middle of, doesn’t understand, and doesn’t know how to deal with.
Like the claustrophobe in a confined space, the human tendency is to scream and pound away ineffectually at the walls, working oneself into an even greater panic and frenzy.
Even Byline in his remark, I am pleased to note, is honest enough to admit that he doesn’t know exactly what path to take, and doesn’t know exactly “how to fix it”, in order to avoid what even a great number of rational critics are perhaps reluctantly willing to admit will be an even worse situation caused by a sudden and careless withdrawal.
But even in the absence of any clear alternative strategy that can be reasonably or rationally demonstrated to provide better results than the strateg(ies) now being implemented, Byline is willing to be among those who join the clamor of screaming “out, out!”, without a clear thought as to what likely will lie beyond “out”.
Having achieved “out”, “in” may not look so bad down the road.
I disagree that the United State’s “reputation” has been “shattered around the globe”. It’s a popular canard and liberal talking point, but I disagree.
I also disagree that this is a “no-win” circumstance, that is resulting “only” in more un-necessary American troop deaths and expediture of tax dollars. I also disagree that Iraq’s leaders aren’t making measurable strides to “toting their fair share of the load”.
They may not always be doing so in the ways that we (think) we want, or as quickly as we think they should, but considering how many of them have died in office, and who daily face kidnapping, torture, and execution just for going to work – I think that they certainly face a great deal more and have a great deal more at stake than do the politicians comfortably ensconced in Washington, or who fly to Iraq for a few days of guided tours behind heavy guards.
As to who is “responsible” for putting us into Iraq – as much as the agitators would like to make this “Bush’s trumped-up war”, and would like to believe in the misguided fantasy that “terrorism is only a bumper sticker”, an overwhelming majority of Congress authorized the Iraq invasion, for a host of reasons that went far beyond faulty intelligence information regarding WMD’s, and gave Bush – and the military – the authority to get the job done.
Part of the job, regime change, has been accomplished. The job is not complete, however, until we leave behind a government better than what we removed, stable and able to defend itself.
Things have not always gone as smoothly or as well as we had hoped and planned for. Fine. You can Monday-morning quarterback all that you want. Hindsight is always 20-20. Wars are characterized by the unexpected.
The fact is, the Islamist’s have a determined agenda, and neighboring Islamist Iran has it’s own reasons for not wanting a stable, democratic, pro-Western government on it’s doorstep.
Now is not the time to “quit”, just because the road has gotten a little bumpy. Bailing out of an aircraft in flight, just because you don’t like heights, are clastrophobic, and have encountered some turbulence, is hardly a wise move.
President Bush would like the Iraq “war” to be over, and for the troops to come home, just as much as the next person. Perhaps even more. He disagree’s with his Democrat opponents on how to best do that.
Democrats generally maintain that “ending” means to “quit and withdraw”, cut and run, whether or not the job is done. Throw the Iraqi’s to the wolves, and let them sink or swim. We “wash our hands” of the whole mess.
And we wonder why the United States is so often viewed with suspicion and distrust when we ask for their cooperation and support. It isn’t the wars and the policies, it’s the pullouts, that leave those who supported us in the lurch.
Bush’s position is, as it has consistently been, that the best way to “end” this war, is to WIN it, and to succeed in accomplishing those goals that have been set out.
In that, I agree.
