Me#1You#10
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 Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:13 am Post subject: The Lowell Sun: "Complete the mission" |
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An oasis of sanity in Massachusetts?
| Quote: | Complete the mission
The Lowell Sun
06/17/2006
U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass, is the Democratic Party's most ardent Iraq war critic. That's fine. Kerry has every right to express his opinions, even though a majority of them are usually formed not on meticulous study but on the current direction of America's political winds.
Today, the winds are blowing to Kerry's back -- at least among party liberals.
Kerry admits he made a mistake in voting to give President Bush the authorization to go to war in Iraq in 2001. That's fine. If he says it enough, it could turn it into a 2008 U.S. presidential campaign slogan: "Correct the mistake of 2004, John Kerry's now anti-war."
Remember when Kerry said during the last presidential election that he voted for the war before he voted against it."
OK, let's not dwell on the past and Kerry's changing convictions. Too much is at stake in Iraq.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate soundly rejected Kerry's call to withdraw combat troops by Dec. 31. The proposal would have allowed "only (U.S.) forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces" to remain in Iraq in 2007.
Six Democrats joined Kerry in backing the proposal.
While the U.S. post-invasion mission in Iraq has had its failures, it is not because of America's fighting men and women. They've done their best -- and sacrificed greatly -- to give Iraqis the freedom they deserve. The soldiers' successes, vastly underreported by U.S. and global media, are truly historic.
The Bush administration's policies, meanwhile, have been resolute yet difficult to comprehend at times. The biggest flaws were not getting enough coalition troops on the ground once Baghdad fell and the decision to decommission Saddam Hussein's captured Iraqi Army.
War is terrible, and Kerry certainly knows that. However, disengaging from war is just as important as waging one. America must win the end game -- decisively -- or else we risk coming back in a decade or sooner. To withdraw U.S. forces now, without giving the new Iraqi government a chance to build its security forces, would be an unfathomable mistake.
No question al-Qaida forces are being destroyed piece by piece. A New York Times article (Sunday, June 11) revealed how the U.S. military has captured or killed more than 100 top insurgent leaders during the past three years. A document obtained in the rubble from the bombing that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, portrays the insurgency as being in "bleak" shape. In fact, U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed 102 insurgents in 452 raids since al-Zarqawi's death, while seizing weapons and shutting off financial networks fueling the insurgency.
The question now is: If al-Qaida forces are being decimated, who's behind the attacks that are killing military forces and Iraqi civilians? Obviously, Baathists loyal to Saddam Hussein and militias loyal to religious leaders. Soon enough, the interests of a unified government -- made up of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds -- are going to figure out a way to deal with these ruthless entities. And they need our help.
Kerry would be wise to urge other international players to assist America in its exit from Iraq by pledging money and military support to Iraq. The end game is near, but it must be handled properly so that Iraq becomes a sovereign nation.
The Iraq situation is truly complex and should not be based on emotional rhetoric. A good source for Kerry and others which brings home the difficult choices America faces in withdrawing from Iraq can be found in the Strategic Studies Institute report titled, "Precedents, Variables, and Options in Planning a U.S. Military Disengage Strategy from Iraq." (www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil). (ed. Hyperlink added)
It might be wishful thinking, but we can hope that the majority of U.S. senators opposing Kerry's withdrawal proposal did so after they read this remarkable and honest report.
The Lowell Sun |
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