[Grovenet] Plans for Iraq

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

If I understand correctly, the common intent is to pull out of Iraq as
quickly as possible, regardless of the circumstances. 

Will that make it easier or harder to play a role in restoring the country
to peace and security in the future when we do have a plan? Or do we not
have a role in the future of Iraq beyond buying its oil from whomever is in
charge? 

How will we repay the people of Iraq for our actions, or do we owe them
nothing for their ruined cities and dead relatives?

How will we avoid a repeat of Iraq in Afghanistan? Like Iraq, Afghanistan
has no history of a democratic government and even less history as a unified
country. Parts of Afghanistan (where the Taliban has remained in control
since 9/11 and, likely, Bin Ladin is now) have never submitted to the rule
of a central government. They have maintained the same tribal allegiances
and hostilities that existed two centuries ago. 

What will a pullout do to the morale of the American fighting forces who are
in Iraq to achieve a military victory? What will that do to a soldier's
interest in risking life and limb in the next great campaign? (I'm reminded
of the huge drop in military enlistment after Vietnam. On many American
streets, it seemed like drug addicts and muggers were treated with more
respect than a man in military uniform.)

Ron D'Eau Claire


 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of JBlair2154 at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 12:55 PM
To: grovenet at rdrop.com
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Plans for Iraq


 
In a message dated 2/18/2007 2:01:22 PM Central Standard Time,  grovenet-
request at rdrop.com writes:

If not,  what do they define as success? How do they plan to achieve it?  



Ron,
There can be no "success" in Iraq....not if it is up to us to  achieve it. 
The democracy we've tried to force upon that country has  backfired, due to
the 
means we used to try to achieve it and due to the history  and sectarian 
nature of the country itself. (Any farsighted leader with indepth  knowlege
of that 
part of the world would have anticipated that, but we had no  such leaders 
making the key decisions.) The longer we stay there, the more  enemies we
make 
and the more American blood will be shed...not to mention the  huge 
expenditures of our in-the-red financial resources.
The Democrats have inherited Bedlam. All we can do is put wiser  heads 
together and figure out how to best handle the mess. You don't see one
Master Plan 
offered yet by all Democrats, for good  reasons. Part of the process is to 
consider several alternatives  and debate them before deciding upon one. And
we 
DO have the time to do this  properly, since the Commander-in-Chief remains
in 
office for many months  yet. Meanwhile, we can let him know that there will
be 
no more rubber-stamping  of his ideas, and we can remind him that the 
majority of American voters believe  it is time to get out of Iraq as
quickly as 
possible. We need to backtrack to  Afghanistan and make it more secure
against a 
resurgence of the Taliban, rebuild  (and refresh) our military strength so
it 
will again be poised for the mobile,  in-and-out attacks it has been
designed 
to do, and see how the Iraqis manage to  sort out their own affairs. Any 
"victory" we may achieve there will not happen  quickly, but it is still
possible. 
It will result from long-term diplomacy,  economic pressures, espionage, and

eliminating terrorists wherever they crop up  -- inside or outside Iraq. Joy
"I voted against the invasion of Iraq. I  thought it was a tragic mistake."

(Sen. Barack  Obama)

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