Many Americans unfortunately believe that Iraq can no longer be salvaged. Even some in the Bush administration see a civil war as inevitable.
First, both of our nations have invested too much to walk away now. If this battle is lost, the entire region could be destabilized.
Second, despite the chaos in my country, not all bridges of patriotism have been burned. Iraqis have ties to their beloved country, not only to their sects and ethnicities.
He acknowledges that there has been sectarian violence and atrocities. But while the vocus has been on the violence, little has been written about the victories.
It is not fair to look at Iraq as a collection of failures without identifying its successes. The birth of a new nation is not easy, but just as your nation has become a beacon for democracy, we hope that Iraq will one day do the same.
History tells us that the birth of America was not easy. It was bought with a great price in the blood of patriots over long years. No one believed at the time that the rag-tag group of militias could win independence from the mighty well disciplined British armies.
All is not lost! Eliminating regional influence is the only way to bring Iraqis back to their senses. Americans understandably find it difficult to support any strategy that prolongs the presence of your troops in Iraq. We do not want to stand in the way of your forces going home. But that decision should not be made under the pressure of car bombs and kidnappings. A precipitous withdrawal of forces would create a security vacuum in Iraq that our forces cannot yet handle — and would therefore be filled by extremists. This does not serve the interests of Iraq or the United States.
Tariq all-Hashimi goes on to outline reasonable and common sense steps that need to be taken to secure the country. Securing Baghdad, stop differentiating between militias and terrorist groups and adherence to the rule of law are all stradegies that would seem to be common sense, but need to be enforced.
Before we went into Iraq, my Beloved Curmudgeon said that where ever we fight terorists will come from all over the world to face off with us. It should have come as a surprise to no one that that is exactly what has happened in Iraq. If it hadn’t been in Iraq, it would have been where ever our Soldiers were.
As much as I would like for my son to be out of harms way, I have to admit that al-Hashimi is right. A precipitous withdrawal of American troops from Iraq would be ill-advised and bring about a bad result not only for Iraq, but for America.
January 13th, 2007 at 8:31 am
[...] Blue Star Chronicles [...]
January 13th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Some of these democrats, like Boxer, seem determined to create a condition where all our guys will have sacrificed in vain over there, for obvious political reasons. They treat Iraq like some kind of failed social program (except they never retreat from a social program). Hashimi needs to come testify in front of that gang of piranhas in the Senate.