Liberally Biased : Escalation in Iraq
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007
By all indications, a majority of Iraqis want us to begin to withdraw from Iraq. Most Americans want us to withdraw from Iraq. The overwhelming majority of the world wants us to withdraw from Iraq. An ever increasing number of experts are urging a withdrawal from Iraq. A blue-ribbon panel, the Iraq Study Group, comprised of credible folks from all over the political spectrum, suggested that we begin to withdraw from Iraq. So what does George Bush do ? He decides to escalate in Iraq.
Nobody wants to call it an escalation, though. That word, accurate though it is, has too many connotations with Vietnam. So just like when they called our invasion of Cambodia an “ incursion, ” we now have a “ surge” instead of an escalation. It’s another example of politicians pulling our strings as if we were puppets. It gets tiresome. What’s that John Lennon line ? “ All I want is the truth now, just gimme some truth now. ” Indeed.
Bush’s escalation speech to the nation did come with a few surprises. First, by my count, he only mentioned Sept. 11 one time. Usually, Bush can’t mention it enough while discussing Iraq. Is this finally the end of his erroneous yet successful effort to convince the American public that Iraq had anything to do with 9 / 11 ? Doubtful. But it was surprising.
Second, Bush finally spelled out where the buck does stop in his administration, saying, “ Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me. ” He may well be four years and tens of thousands of deaths too late while stating the patently obvious, but it is an encouraging sign.
He also made some ominous noises concerning Iran and Syria, prompting even some congressmen to ask just what he has in mind. All reason dictates that it would be insane to pick a new fight with Iran or Syria. But then again, that’s what I thought about the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Don’t count on reason from this White House.
Bush also grossly exaggerated the al-Qaida presence in Iraq. They are there of course. We provided them a gift by invading Iraq. But they account for a tiny fraction of the violence. Whatever your semantic preference, we have tipped off a civil war there. Most of the killing is locally grown, and there is no end in sight.
So what should we do ? The options run the gamut from escalation to staying the course to withdrawal. Bush may have preferred the socalled “ go big” option: a massive escalation of U. S. troops. That is impossible. The United States is simply stretched too thin. Without a military draft, 22, 000 troops are about all that can be mustered. There is no reason to think escalation can stem the violence. We put more than half a million troops in Vietnam, and things never got any better. Unless we are prepared to literally flatten Iraq, destroying a sizable percentage of the people living there, escalation will not do. Sending a mere 22, 000 troops and expecting an improvement is like trying to plow the sea. All it will achieve is a surge of American body bags.
Staying the course is what Bush was touting all last year. Obviously, the public’s patience has worn thin with that option. Maintaining the status quo for years longer, hoping to ride out the storm, is perhaps the least appealing option. Even Bush, it seems, finally agrees, which brings us to the option of withdrawal. Withdrawal would not be pretty. There will be a bloodbath when we leave, which may or may not be worse than what is happening now. History abhors a vacuum. Sunnis and Shiites will battle for control until some sort of equilibrium is attained. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s also one we should have expected before we began this little endeavor. There is a good chance that the violence would be shorterlived than if we remain. For all its horrors, withdrawal would finally allow Iraqis to determine their own destiny. In Vietnam, we tried to impose our values by force. In doing so, we simply replaced the French as the new imperial power. We poured in blood and treasure to try and make Vietnam in our image, and all it did was breed more resistance. American hubris prolonged the disaster. And here we are again. The Iraqis want us to begin withdrawing, so why don’t we ? Democracy will probably one day come to the people of the Middle East. But it will have to be at their instigation, and on their terms. It’s time to cut our losses, acknowledge our mistake, learn the lesson we never did from Vietnam, and remember it the next time another politician tries to get our support to go marching through someone else’s country.
• • • Tony Red writes a column for The Benton County Daily Record. He can be reached at tred 22 @ cox. net, or write to him in care of this newspaper.
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