Winning in Iraq?
This weekend it was refreshing to get good news about the Iraq war from President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. They were upbeat and confident that we are on track to what President Bush says will be total victory.
My joy at hearing the good news about the war was diminished when I read At Least 86 Found Shot Or Strangled In Baghdad by Ellen Knickmeyer and Naseer Nouri in The Washington Post.
[tease]
Daylight Tuesday brought the discovery of at least 86 shot or strangled men across the city, most of them with hands tied and many of them tortured, according to police. They included 27 corpses in one of the first mass graves to be found in the capital since the U.S. invasion three years ago.
[tease]
The number of execution-style deaths reported by police and news media usually is only a fraction of the total, according to morgue statistics that have shown such killings doubling since the middle of last year. International officials say the morgue — and the Health Ministry that oversees it and is controlled by Sadr’s political bloc — have been increasingly reluctant to disclose the number of execution-style killings, which are often linked to Shiite militias or the security forces of the Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry.
[tease] (emphasis added)
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview published Sunday in London’s al-Hayat newspaper that the delay was “due to the fact that politicians are occupied with distribution of posts, and their discussions are about individuals. They have to understand that the interest of Iraq must come first, as we are in a crisis. The country is bleeding and headed for a civil war, and it’s the responsibility of Iraqi politicians to feel people’s pains and understand their needs.”
I admit that I am conflicted about what the USA should do next in Iraq. We must find a way to extricate ourselves while not appearing to cut and run.
The USA and allies such as Britain has given millions of people in Iraq the dream and hope of a more humane, open and democratic form of government. Now we must balance our responsibilities to them against what looks like a nasty brutish civil war where all involved will suffer.
At some point, the loss of even one more young American soldier’s life will exceed any possible advantage we can gain by continuing this war.
I predict we will soon declare victory, and leave Iraq, civil war or no civil war.