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Stay the course in Iraq - Conservative View
Please, not another Vietnam
Kathryn Mayer
Issue date: 1/16/07 Section: Editorials
The war hasn't gone according to plan. We all know this, and last Wednesday night, the one person everyone is blaming admitted it too.
President Bush took full responsibility for the war, and said the situation is "unacceptable." Americans have demanded change, and that's what's happening - change.
Bush has ordered another 21,500 troops to Iraq. The decision has resulted in criticism, and even some praise, on both sides of the fence. This decision isn't exactly ideal, but the fact is, something must change.
Bush said it: A failure in Iraq would be a disaster for America. This is when some will argue that the situation in Iraq has already turned into a disaster. We've started an "unjust war," driven by power and a thirst for oil.
Terrorists and insurgents roam the streets in Iraq, and we're having trouble securing them. Iraqis are dying. Freedom to them hasn't come free and some argue we shouldn't even be the ones pushing that belief onto them.
And of course, there are our soldiers, who are putting their lives at risk and dying because of it.
But, the reality is, we don't have another option. If we cut off funding for the war, like some Democrats have threatened, our sources won't be sufficient enough, and indeed, we will lose this war. If we pull our troops, Iraq will be left in a disaster even larger than what they are in now.
Violence will swell, and Iraqis won't have enough gains to defeat Al Qaeda or Sunnis. Civil conflict will ensue. The Iraqi citizens that want their democracy won't be able to get it because the terrorists' power is incomparable to theirs.
We have a situation similar to the Vietnam conflict. Although Gerald Ford vetoed Congress' Foreign Assistance Act in 1974, halting troops and funding for the effort, the act passed, and America left Vietnam in a mess that we helped to create.
We either leave, or we stay. Most likely, both options continue years of suffering in Iraq (and subsequently, a divide between the American people). But, we have to work to finish the job we came to do, or at least solve some of its civil conflict.
President Bush took full responsibility for the war, and said the situation is "unacceptable." Americans have demanded change, and that's what's happening - change.
Bush has ordered another 21,500 troops to Iraq. The decision has resulted in criticism, and even some praise, on both sides of the fence. This decision isn't exactly ideal, but the fact is, something must change.
Bush said it: A failure in Iraq would be a disaster for America. This is when some will argue that the situation in Iraq has already turned into a disaster. We've started an "unjust war," driven by power and a thirst for oil.
Terrorists and insurgents roam the streets in Iraq, and we're having trouble securing them. Iraqis are dying. Freedom to them hasn't come free and some argue we shouldn't even be the ones pushing that belief onto them.
And of course, there are our soldiers, who are putting their lives at risk and dying because of it.
But, the reality is, we don't have another option. If we cut off funding for the war, like some Democrats have threatened, our sources won't be sufficient enough, and indeed, we will lose this war. If we pull our troops, Iraq will be left in a disaster even larger than what they are in now.
Violence will swell, and Iraqis won't have enough gains to defeat Al Qaeda or Sunnis. Civil conflict will ensue. The Iraqi citizens that want their democracy won't be able to get it because the terrorists' power is incomparable to theirs.
We have a situation similar to the Vietnam conflict. Although Gerald Ford vetoed Congress' Foreign Assistance Act in 1974, halting troops and funding for the effort, the act passed, and America left Vietnam in a mess that we helped to create.
We either leave, or we stay. Most likely, both options continue years of suffering in Iraq (and subsequently, a divide between the American people). But, we have to work to finish the job we came to do, or at least solve some of its civil conflict.
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