No escape from our responsibilities

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

By Richard Anderson

Dear Congress –
I am as surprised as anyone to find myself writing to urge you to vote against withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

I do not think we have accomplished a great deal there these past four-plus years. I consider the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime and his subsequent capture a latent effect of our misguided efforts there, and his execution an ugly hint of what justice currently means in this land of long-held sectarian animosity.

And yet, I fear that the presence of American troops in Iraq offers a necessary if insufficient valence to keep this long-suffering region from being torn apart completely.
To my knowledge, the United States has spent nearly a half a trillion dollars (more than enough many times over to pay for, say, health care for millions of Americans or to secure Social Security for the near future) so far on this poorly aimed war on terror.

I consider this to have been a half trillion dollars unwisely spent, and I have no doubt we will pay at least that much more in the years to come as we maintain a nominal order and continue to work for a nominal peace.

But I fear the cost in Middle Eastern lives and prosperity will far outweigh that hefty sum if we disengage now, and the wages of our abandonment of our responsibility today will pale against the funding of our continued presence in the near, middle and long term.

I do not accuse those of those of you who have sincerely pondered withdrawal of cowardice or cut-and run, as this legitimate option has too often been unfairly cast. Nor do I have much hope that our continued presence in Iraq – or elsewhere in the Middle East, for that matter – will significantly affect a peaceful resolution there. I only hope that, in the foreseeable future, we can draw down our troops without precipitating more violence and instability.

Nor do I consider a vote to continue our presence in Iraq a victory for the Bush administration. Every additional life lost there, every additional dollar wasted there, every additional day we remain entangled there should be a source of shame and humiliation for everyone who had a role in getting the United States mired in the imbroglio.

There is no easy way out of this mess. I beg you not to mistake premature withdrawal for washing our hands of this matter. If you do, my fear is the blood stains will soon stretch up to our elbows and beyond.

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No escape from our responsibilities | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

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