Boston Globe: The consequences of quitting Iraq

[unhappycamper]

The consequences of quitting Iraq
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | July 18, 2007

LOUDER, more insistently, the drums are beating for an American retreat from Iraq.

No longer is declaring the war unwinnable and leaving Iraqis to sort out their own problems a prescription taken seriously only on the antiwar fringe. Back in November 2005, when Representative John Murtha's call for an immediate withdrawal of US troops was put to a vote, the House voted it down by a nearly unanimous 403-3. Last week, a House bill mandating a departure from Iraq by next April was approved, 223-201. There may not be -- yet -- a veto-proof majority for pulling the plug, but it is clear where the momentum lies.

The end-the-war bandwagon is rolling in the Senate, too. Some prominent Republicans have climbed aboard, joining Democrats who have been denouncing the war for many months. "We cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely," Pete Domenici of New Mexico said on July 5, as he called for "a new strategy that will move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to coming home." George Voinovich of Ohio has urged President Bush to give up on the surge and adopt "Plan E for Exit" instead.

The media echo chamber, meanwhile, reverberates with defeatism on Iraq and disdain for the president. Rapt attention is devoted to the Republican wobbling; much less to the heartening dividends being returned by General David Petraeus's surge. "If not now, when?" Matt Lauer recently demanded on NBC's "Today" show. "The White House says it's not considering pulling US troops out of Iraq right now but with sinking approval ratings and defections from his own party, is it just a matter of time before the president changes course? . . . How long can the president ignore calls to bring the troops home?"

~snip~

If US troops leave prematurely, the Iraqi government is likely to collapse, which could trigger violence on a far deadlier scale than Iraq is experiencing now. Iran's malignant influence will intensify, and with it the likelihood of intensified Sunni-Shiite conflict, and even a nuclear arms race, across the Middle East. Anti-American terrorists and fanatics worldwide will be emboldened. Iraq would emerge, in Senator John McCain's words, "as a Wild West for terrorists, similar to Afghanistan before 9/11." Once again -- as in Vietnam, in Lebanon, in Somalia -- the United States would have proven the weaker horse, unwilling to see a fight through to the finish.

Yet none of this seems to trouble the surrender lobby, which either doesn't think about the consequences of abandoning Iraq, or is convinced a US departure will actually make things better. "If everyone knows we're leaving, it will put the fear of God into them," Voinovich declares. Sure it will. Nothing scares Al Qaeda like seeing Americans in retreat.

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uhc note: Jeff Jocoby is one of the 26%ers who love war.

[KharmaTrain]

1. And The Domino Theory Came To Pass, Too...

Yep...all of Asia is walking around in Mao jackets and working on collectives and the VC followed us back here to destroy our cities.

Now what is Al Queda's biggest bitch with the US? It was the presence of our military in the Middle East. Remove the military, remove their biggest reason to be and grow. These chickenhawks are so ignorant of the history and the people they seem to always like to project in their screeds of fear.

[UTUSN]

2. & this fellow has not won the lottery beCAUSE?!1 (since he can tell the future) n/t

[endarkenment]

3. Jeff Jacoby is an asshole. nt.

[annabanana]

4. Iraq's "government" is going to collapse no matter what.

It has always been a creature of ours and not of the Iraqi people.. The much touted "vote" that B*sh * the repugs keep referring to was a joke. Those people got their purple fingers because their religious leaders told them that if they voted, the Americans would go home.

It will collapse if we leave tomorrow. It will collapse if we leave after "serious deliberation" after September's report from Petraeus. It will collapse if we "surge the surge", "re-deploy". "go all out", or even try to "do diplomacy" (since no one there believes a word we say).

It was a bogus construct created as a cover for the Oil Companies to steal the oil, with OUR troops and OUR money putting up the collateral.

[leftchick]

5. Jeff is a strapping young man!

and ugly too! Sign up Jeffy!