Cut and Run?
I am concerned about troop withdrawals from Iraq. I opposed the invasion in 2003 (an early display of political campaigning) and still believe it was wrong to invade when we did in the way we did. However, that does not come close to justifying fleeing the scene of the crime. We will leave few established authority structures in place in Iraq, and the general population will be subject to militant anarchy. The suicide bombings may be a response to occupying forces, but it is naive in the highest to pretend that fewer bombs will be detonated if the troops leave.
There are no easy solutions to Iraq, but it seems very clear that a quick get-away will do far more damage to the global community than some form of rebuilding. In a country where remote detonators are used to explode bombs attached to mentally disabled women, the mere notion of “law and order” is a sick joke. Leaving Iraq in chaos is a cowardly response: Lady Macbeth may scrub her hands all she likes, but the damned spot will not wash away.