Why withdrawal is possible

[rodeodance]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF30Ak02.html

Why withdrawal is possible
By Mark LeVine

As calls to set a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq grow with each new casualty, President George W Bush and other critics of such a move argue vigorously that announcing such a deadline would grant the insurgents a major political and strategic victory: the former by vindicating the violent, even terroristic methodology of the insurgency itself, the latter by allowing rebels to bide their time and overwhelm government troops once American forces depart.

However convincing at face value, these arguments raise the question: are the only options in Iraq maintaining an unpopular and costly occupation, or handing the country over to "former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, criminal elements and foreign terrorists" (as Bush describes them)?

The answer is manifestly no, and the fact so few people within the corridors of power can imagine an alternative policy reveals a powerful yet fallacious line of reasoning at the heart of arguments to "stay the course" in Iraq: that a US troop withdrawal would automatically leave a security vacuum in its place.

But such an outcome is by no means a foregone conclusion; the problem is that few Americans, especially politicians, are willing to consider the alternative: apologize to the Iraqi people for an invasion and occupation that (whatever our intentions) has gone terribly wrong; ask the United Nations to take over the management of the country's security, lead negotiations to end the insurgency, and oversee redevelopment aid; and leave as soon as a sufficient number of replacement forces are in place. .....

[Greyhound]

1. Amerikans? Apologize?

From what planet do you come? What are your immigration polocies?

[Cha]

2. IMO, nothing's going to change until

bush gets outta there and the neonazis who are propping him up.

A Real President of The United States Of America could certainly consider this paragraph in all honesty..

"But such an outcome is by no means a foregone conclusion; the problem is that few Americans, especially politicians, are willing to consider the alternative: apologize to the Iraqi people for an invasion and occupation that (whatever our intentions) has gone terribly wrong; ask the United Nations to take over the management of the country's security, lead negotiations to end the insurgency, and oversee redevelopment aid; and leave as soon as a sufficient number of replacement forces are in place. ....."


This is a great article..hope a lot of Americans get to see it in the "Asian Times".

[rodeodance]

3. leaving means losing--as in Vietnam losing. Most have not tolerate

this thought.

[rodeodance]

4. I have trouble even imagining this happening.

....Even those who support a timetable for withdrawing American troops might respond negatively to the suggestion that America apologize for its invasion and occupation of Iraq. Certainly, the president's speech before the troops at Fort Bragg offered no hint of remorse for the pain and suffering the invasion brought to Iraq.

Such knee-jerk patriotism disappears, however, when you actually visit Iraq, as I did (that is, without a massive security detail and living with Iraqis), and see the disaster that the occupation has produced first-hand. Observed close up, without the filter of an obsequious news media, the overwhelmingly negative consequences of the occupation become impossible to ignore: the 100,000 dead (the majority of them civilians); wide-scale violations of human, political and civil rights; the destruction of the country's health, education and other crucial social systems; the massive unemployment; a violent and destabilizing insurgency that is likely to last a generation or more; the rending of a delicate social fabric that managed to survive a bloody British occupation, several wars, and the even bloodier rule of Saddam Hussein (which we should never forget was made possible in good measure by decades of support from administrations as far back as President John F Kennedy).

In Alcoholics Anonymous, apologizing and making amends for the hurt one has done to others are among the most important steps in the long path toward sobriety. Clearly, Bush, who believes Iraqis should "put the past behind them", isn't about to engage in soul searching about the mission and consequences of our Iraq adventure. But if Americans can admit to - and in doing so, comprehend - the damage our government has wrought in Iraq in our name and with our consent, we will take an important first step in ending our addiction to an unsustainable corporate-led, consumer-driven culture, and the wars and systematic violence, oppression and exploitation it requires world-wide. In doing so we will begin the long but necessary task of building a sustainable and peaceful future, for Iraq, for ourselves, and for the world at large.

[navvet]

5. Would the UN be willing to take this Hot Potato on??

Just asking, the bad guys (Islam fanatics as they are refereed to) may not welcome them any more readily than they did the US. If it is a Islamic Nirvana they seek why would they not fight the UN also?

Why would the UN get into this nutcracker, and where would the troops and support personnel needed to facilitate a rebuilding process come from.

Which countries would all of a sudden see the light and participate.


Some might if the US was dealt out but realistic ly how many would.

Do we just cede it all to the benevolence of neighboring Iran (consider the most recent statement concerning Islamic revolution from their new President)?

It was a mistake to go it, and out we should be, but I doubt the UN will take on this burden, and if it does it does not have a stellar track record of success any better than the US does.

We made this soup and we will have to eat the bitter meal.



:shrug:

[rodeodance]

6. networks got dupped!!--thought it was to be a major policy speech. te he

......Originally coy about carrying the speech, the networks cancelled some reruns to run it live, persuaded by the White House press office that there was a major policy statement coming. There wasn't. And Bush probably did himself no favors by broadcasting a pep talk intended for troops already committed to action to much more skeptical civilians.

In a way, his most remarkable achievement, with his social security reform dead in the water, his United Nations ambassador-designate held hostage by the Senate, and the continuing maelstrom in Iraq, is to look like a lame-duck president only six months into his second term.