Let me preface by saying that I have not read the Iraq study group's report directly. My opinions are taken from several other media sources who presumably have read the report. Having said that, I am not convinced that the recommendations contained in the report are in the best interest of winning the war against radical Islam. It appears to me that the report is a plan for retreat disguised as being the only realistic solution.
What strikes me most about the report is the premise. That we are losing the war and the only avenue is to find an exit strategy that will not leave Iraq a complete disaster. Rather than spending time on finding this proposed exit strategy maybe they should have been examining ways to actually win the war. I fear that our country has learned very little from our previous conflicts. When we do not pursue absolute victory we end up defeating ourselves and we leave the countries we were trying to liberate in worse shape than when we started. Our enemies do not view our retreat as a good will gesture or a as a means to political diplomacy. Rather, they see at as it is; weakness and lack of will to see our fights through to the finish line.
The Iraq people will not be in the streets cheering when we leave. Instead they will be in their houses hiding from the ruthless thugs that will be left unchecked without our troops in place. On top of this, we will lose all credibility with our allies as they will no longer trust us. They will realize that when the going gets tough, the US is predisposed to find a quick exit strategy with little regard to long term peace.
I hope that President Bush rejects this report as he examines other solutions to win the war. I support McCain's idea to double the amount of troops and Sen. Biden's idea of splitting Iraq into separate countries should be given serious consideration. Retreating is not the only answer.
Yes, the current war is not going well but History should remind us that all wars do not go well. During World War II we suffered many defeats and setbacks including D Day where we lost thousands of men. Did we form a study group to look for ways to get out of the war? No! We pushed forward as a country and by doing so liberated an entire continent from tyranny. We should do no less today.
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"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."
"In war there is no substitute for victory."
"One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda."
Selected quotes from General Douglas MacArthur.
Sorry for this long comment with my two cents worth about Iraq and the war.
It was never a war against the nation of Iraq. Our nation invaded Iraq to oust an international criminal and to rid Iraq of its WMDs and its ability to support Islamic terrorists. Saddam has been convicted, the terrorist camps have been shut down, and the capacity to develop WMD's eliminated, but sunni terrorists have flocked to Iraq to fight the shi'ites and Americans.
Our military kicked butt. The war against Saddam was quickly won and accurately proclaimed by our President. However, we did not adequately prepare to rebuild Iraq. And the larger war we are in, the war against Islamic terrorism, is a war of ideas and ultimately cannot be won only with military might. Yes, our military has an important role in the defeat of terrorism, but you can't defeat a lie with a gun. To fight such a war with military might alone means invading Iran and several other nations. This would still leave us with the dilemma of nation-rebuilding.
We had success rebuilding West Germany after WWII because Germans embraced freedom and Christianity in large part. We had success in rebuilding Japan after WWII because Shintoism (99% of Japanese) has no mandate to proselytize. Rebuilding an Iraq's Islamic people into a peace and freedom loving people is a huge challenge. We'd have more success rebuilding Iraq with missionaries than we are with soldiers.
We are winning the war against terrorism on many fronts. We have taken the battle away from our land and taken it into the heart of terrorist strongholds. Our intelligence is vastly improved and the wickedness of Islam has been exposed. Should we exit Iraq? I don't know. I like our President's goal of promoting freedom in the middle east, but it is proving difficult to establish freedom among Muslim people.
I think the war against terrorism and the effort to rebuild Iraq are two different, though linked, issues. There is no internal unity in Iraq and therefore an external union as one nation cannot last. If it is not divided politically, it will divide itself through civil war. The sunnis and shi'ites will most likely continue to fight each other regardless. (Should we remain in between our enemies as they kill each other?)
America needs to do three things. 1. Garner international help in rebuilding Iraq. This will be difficult because most of the world's nations lack in generosity and love of others. They didn't support our invasion and they lack courage to stand against imperialistic Islam.
2. Make middle eastern oil irrelevant. This will defund much of Islamic terrorism and lessen the importance of the middle east. This battle we can and should fight. We can win if we reclaim the determination of the U.S. civilians during WWII and change our economy and spending habits with unity and fervor. President Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon. President Bush should challenge America to become totally energy independent within 10 years. We could do it.
3. Proclaim the Truth. Jesus is the answer for the world today. Islam and its "convert or die" commandments will constantly breed terrorists. The only way to defeat Islamic terrorism is to defeat the lies of Islam. Remember Ephesians 6:12.
Only the true God, Jesus Christ, the Ruler of all nations, can bring peace to earth and defeat false religions. The Prince of Peace came in love offering true peace to all who will receive Him.
Derek, while it is correct not to enter a war we don't intend to win, GW has every intention of winnning the Iraq war.
While there was an underestimate of Iran and Syria sending troops to foment an armed resistence, the place we really are loosing the war is here in the states. If you add up all the attacks the media has had on our troops because of Abu Grahib or the repeated false stories of a flush koran or worries about torture. The whole time ignoring what the monsters have done to the likes of Nick Burg and contracter or even Sri Lanka and the Phillipeans. The idea that the President lied about WMD's is ludicris because sadam used them against iran and the Kurds after the Gulf War (it was a mistake, no that's no right it was immoral not to go back in after sadam gassed the kurds.)
Because of the backlash of Iraq we won't go into iran, even though we should have the second we realized that iran was sending fighters across the border.
The thing that we seam not to grasp when we send troops into any kind of fight is that our troops need to be feared, instead of loved. While trying to win the hearts and minds has merit, it doesn't work when there are people that are more than willing to kill themselves to kill us infidels. (Another thing Machevelli would aggree with).
With the enemy we are facing they have to be exterminated otherwise we will have to kill more later.
Now trusting iran and syria is like putting bill clinton in charge of a high school dance team.
Technology truly has become one with our daily lives, and I am 99% certain that we have passed the point of no return in our relationship with technology.
I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as memory becomes less expensive, the possibility of copying our brains onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could see in my lifetime.
(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://kwstar88.zoomshare.com/2.shtml]R4 SDHC[/url] DS FFOpera)
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