Editorial Demands for U.S. Pullout in Iraq Grow

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http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003581463

Editorial Demands for U.S. Pullout in Iraq Grow


By E&P Staff

Published: May 06, 2007 10:30 PM ET

NEW YORK The editorial pages of many American newspapers have long been harshly critical of the conduct of the war in Iraq, but very few major papers have ever called for a U.S. withdrawal any time soon. The Washington Post has strongly opposed the idea, while The New York Times has started moving in the pullout direction. But the Los Angeles Times -- which had backed the "surge" -- took the strongest stand yet on Sunday, in an editorial titled simply, "Bring Them Home."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, in a conservative state, the Roanoke (Va.) Times also called for a pullout, explaining that it, too, was reversing course on its support for the war.

The L.A. Times observed, "This newspaper reluctantly endorsed the U.S. troop surge as the last, best hope for stabilizing conditions so that the elected Iraqi government could assume full responsibility for its affairs. But we also warned that the troops should not be used to referee a civil war. That, regrettably, is what has happened."

It concluded that "the longer we delay planning for the inevitable, the worse the outcome is likely to be. The time has come to leave."

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