The War in Iraq

We are in Iraq.

We can’t turn back the clock.

Arguments pro and con have been made about whether we should have gone in or not.

But we are there.

Only history will tell us the result of our actions.

One can imagine the future as one wishes.

For example, one can speculate that if we didn’t go in, terrorists would be devoting their energies to attacking American directly rather than concentrating their energies on attacking us in Iraq where we can at least fight back.

Some would argue that by being in Iraq, we are inflaming Iran.

Others would say that by being in Iraq, we present a very immediate military threat to Iran and thus hold them in check in spite of their rhetoric.

Or that our military presence has already caused several Mideast regimes to, at least on the surface, renounce terrorism.

Of course, the opposite argument is that we are radicalizing Muslims and creating more terrorists than would be the case otherwise.

On the other hand, all our political correctness and multiculturalism prior to 9/11 seemed to do us little good.

But we are there now.

What should be our course?

Pull out?

Inform that we are leaving in one year and gradually pull out our troops and let the Iraqi military sink or swim.

It’s their country. If they won’t fight for it, why should we?

This is a very tempting argument.

And it might be right.

The Iraqis could answer the call and create their own kind of democracy.

But what if Iraq then falls into chaos and radicalism and becomes a haven for terrorists?

And what if our pullout is perceived as a lack of will power to defend ourselves against terrorism?

Will American then be safer?

But if we stay three more years and still the Iraqis cannot govern themselves and their military cannot impose order, what have we accomplished?

At this point, we just don’t know what will happen.

However, we do know that there is a concerted effort to undermine the war effort.

Some of it is made by those who are sincerely seeking what is best for America.

Much of it, however, is by those who just simply hate George Bush.

They hate the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he smiles.

They relentlessly criticize his every move, never offering solutions of their own.

In many cases, such as the Patriot Act, they attack him, make all kinds of false accusations, but when it actually comes time to vote, they support the very legislation they criticized.

We don’t know whether history will prove the Bush approach right or wrong.

But history has already shown that appeasement does not work.

If our country were united in its determination to stand up to terrorism, to a way of life and an ideology which goes against many of the most fundamental principles of Western democracy, then we would eventually win.

That is not to say that one does not have the right to oppose President Bush’s policy.

It does say that that opposition should come up with carefully thought out reasons as to what we should do instead.

Just spewing hatred of Bush is not in the best interests of America.