What ever happened to doing the right thing?
I'm appalled at the number of people who think the United States should leave Iraq simply because there is a lot of violence there.
Should we abandon our own inner cities for the same reason?
The same people who say we should pump endless trillions into trying to rebuild urban areas in the United States balk at spending one tenth of that in Iraq. Is it because you don't know the people in Iraq? Is it because they can't vote for you or your political party?f
It is one thing to say that we should be doing something differently in Iraq (as long as you actually specify what we should be doing) but another thing entirely to claim that because it is "hard" we should leave innocent Iraqis to suffer under whatever authoritarian regime takes over when we leave.
Certainly the Iraqi people have to stand up for themselves. But we need to make sure we have have given them the proper opportunity and proper tools to succeed on their own.
We left Afghanistan in the 1990s without caring what happened after we left and the result was the rise of the Taliban and and a safe haven for al Qeada. It would be no different in Iraq if we left without first making sure the Iraqi people can take care of themselves.
Of course it is "hard". Things worth doing are rarely easy.
For a nation that rebuilt Europe and Japan after WWII we sure have fallen a long way.
Should we abandon our own inner cities for the same reason?
The same people who say we should pump endless trillions into trying to rebuild urban areas in the United States balk at spending one tenth of that in Iraq. Is it because you don't know the people in Iraq? Is it because they can't vote for you or your political party?f
It is one thing to say that we should be doing something differently in Iraq (as long as you actually specify what we should be doing) but another thing entirely to claim that because it is "hard" we should leave innocent Iraqis to suffer under whatever authoritarian regime takes over when we leave.
Certainly the Iraqi people have to stand up for themselves. But we need to make sure we have have given them the proper opportunity and proper tools to succeed on their own.
We left Afghanistan in the 1990s without caring what happened after we left and the result was the rise of the Taliban and and a safe haven for al Qeada. It would be no different in Iraq if we left without first making sure the Iraqi people can take care of themselves.
Of course it is "hard". Things worth doing are rarely easy.
For a nation that rebuilt Europe and Japan after WWII we sure have fallen a long way.