The Iraqi Elections & an Exit Strategy
As you might have heard, Iraq had its first free elections in 50 years. Iraqis rejoiced, Iraqi expatriates celebrated, and George W. Bush could barely hide his smirk behind his glee.
When the results are announced next week, not all Iraqis will be happy. It's hard to see Sunni and Shiite Muslims sharing power, and one group ceding power to the other. That's not to mention the Kurds, the country's "other" large ethnic group. Iraq's problems (and ours) are far from over. It is still a terrorist hotbed and breeding ground. Whether the problem is worse now than during Saddam Hussein's time is both an open question and a moot point. Bush pushed us into this war for vague and continuously evolving reasons, and now we cannot simply walk away and let the country continue to disintegrate. The elections are a first step and will hopefully put an exit strategy in motion. We cannot just start bringing troops home now simply because there were elections...that could make it all worse.
Is Bush capable of making an exit strategy? Well, he's done such a ridiculously poor job thus far that it's hard to see it. Let's hope a thoughtful moderate Colin Powell can figure something out. Oops, he's gone. Maybe some non-chicken hawks can put a plan in place. Oops, there aren't any in this administration.
After Bush pre-empts good TV programming for a State of the Union that will be filled with half-truths and manipulations, he needs to come up with a concrete plan and tentative timetable. He created this morass for reasons that are still unclear--- WMD's? Uh, no. Saddam connected to 9/11? Sorry, Dick Cheney, but the answer to that is still no. Spreading democracy? Um, OK, yeah, that's it!
You are our president. For real this time. Figure something out. And if Halliburton profits more from whatever plan you set up, people had better start screaming.
When the results are announced next week, not all Iraqis will be happy. It's hard to see Sunni and Shiite Muslims sharing power, and one group ceding power to the other. That's not to mention the Kurds, the country's "other" large ethnic group. Iraq's problems (and ours) are far from over. It is still a terrorist hotbed and breeding ground. Whether the problem is worse now than during Saddam Hussein's time is both an open question and a moot point. Bush pushed us into this war for vague and continuously evolving reasons, and now we cannot simply walk away and let the country continue to disintegrate. The elections are a first step and will hopefully put an exit strategy in motion. We cannot just start bringing troops home now simply because there were elections...that could make it all worse.
Is Bush capable of making an exit strategy? Well, he's done such a ridiculously poor job thus far that it's hard to see it. Let's hope a thoughtful moderate Colin Powell can figure something out. Oops, he's gone. Maybe some non-chicken hawks can put a plan in place. Oops, there aren't any in this administration.
After Bush pre-empts good TV programming for a State of the Union that will be filled with half-truths and manipulations, he needs to come up with a concrete plan and tentative timetable. He created this morass for reasons that are still unclear--- WMD's? Uh, no. Saddam connected to 9/11? Sorry, Dick Cheney, but the answer to that is still no. Spreading democracy? Um, OK, yeah, that's it!
You are our president. For real this time. Figure something out. And if Halliburton profits more from whatever plan you set up, people had better start screaming.
posted by Wounded Liberal at 1:37 PM
<< Home