Saturday, November 19, 2005

Time to start pulling out?

Many Democrats have been calling for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq for some time now. Senators Kerry and Kennedy have been repeating this so often that it has become too predictable and shrill. Now we have another voice which has been heard loud and clear. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) wants troops out within six months. I have the utmost respect for this man but it is not a good strategy to announce dates of troop withdrawals. Our enemy can sit back and gather their forces and once we are out they can pounce to disrupt the fledgling Iraqi government.
I know this might shock some readers that have followed my posts lately but the idea is starting to sound tempting. Oh, I don't propose we "cut and run" but at least the government should be drawing up plans for an orderly withdrawal as the Iraqi army and police start to take charge. I know that there can never be a pronouncement that specifies when and how many troops are going to be removed. This proviso should be clearly spelled out by the administration and the popular media should cooperate in this effort instead of playing partisan politics and seeking pronouncements which will endanger our troops who are in harms way.
Our troops have been targeted by the insurgents and too many are dying and being wounded. These insurgents have been identified as being mainly Sunnis from the previous ruling Baathist regime with a few Al-Zarqawi Islamic terrorists. They are making "hit and run" attacks which have been devastating to our troops. Some Sunnis are finally starting to cooperate, although grudgingly, in the political process. They finally are starting to realize that in order to safeguard their "tribal" portion of Iraq, there is really no other alternative.
I fear that as far as Al-Zarqawi, Bin Laden and like-minded terrorists are concerned, their nihilistic cause is one which will be a curse on the civilized world for the foreseeable future. Their insatiable penchant for killing has no end because they have set no goal to be achieved in order to stop their "mission".
The only way to combat them is by cooperative international intelligence agencies to ferret them out, capture and try them in an international tribunal. The USA is going to have to stand back somewhat. We cannot be the ones carrying the ball all the time. It's time to get the bench warmers in the game.

3 comments:

Vman said...

I think john murtha is a republican.

roman said...

vman,

Wow, you had me going there for a second, but no he's a Democrat.
See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murtha

Dr Kuha said...

you do realize that we will never be totally out of Iraq. I mean...we still have troops in Germany and Japan. As long as the US is a global power, we will NEVER leave. We will ALWAYS have a military base in Baghdad, and we will always have a vested interest in thier oil. Don't get me wrong, from here on, as long as the black gold keeps flowing, there won't be any really major military operations in Iraq, but we won't be able to leave there in any real way, until the insurgency is quelled (a decade?). We have a responsibility now. If we turn our back on Iraq now... well... it really doesn't make us look very good at the very least.