April 26, 2007
Defeat By Any Other Name
In a bold wartime challenge to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled Congress cleared legislation Thursday to begin withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later. The White House dismissed the legislation as "dead before arrival."
Call it what you will: withdrawal, cut and run, retreat, defeat, surrender---the Democrats in Congress have embraced losing Iraq. What's worse is that they are not doing it because it makes for sound foreign policy, but because defeat in Iraq helps them politically. That's the party they have shaped: defeat is victory. George Orwell, call your office.
Knowing what we know now, should we have invaded Iraq? Probably not, but that debate is now moot. WE BROKE IRAQ AND WE HAVE TO FIX IT. Leaving Iraq now will guarantee anarchy and, eventually, another despot or a radical theocracy. We have nothing less than a moral obligation to at least try to set things right. It may take 10 years. Or 15. 54 years after the truce was signed stopping the Korean War, tens of thousands of Americans are still in South Korea. This is the cost.
Posted by Matthew at April 26, 2007 08:53 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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I mostly agree with you. The one difference here is that I don't think there is/was one person in South Korea that didn't want us there - then or now.
There are lots of people in Iraq who don't want us there.
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at April 26, 2007 11:49 PM
I'm surprised you think it might have been a mistake. We needed to keep after them after Afghanistan, we did the right thing, just badly.
I agree, we need to stay there however long, it's called Imperialism. It's not a bad thing the way the USA does it, and it's in our national interest.
Posted by: SHEEB at April 27, 2007 11:30 PM
OK, wait a minute. They want a timetable for withdrawal tied to benchmarks of accomplishments by the Iraqi government. That sounds awfully familiar, I’ve heard it before somewhere… Oh, wait! Bush said the same thing about Kosovo back in ’99!
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 6-5-99:
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
And:
“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”
Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it…