Why not pull out of Iraq?All the pundits and the politicians are saying that we can't just pull out, because the resulting chaos would be disastrous. But look at the current situation, and consider both the short and long term results of a U.S. pullout.
Currently, much of the country is already in chaos. 130,000 U.S. troops, plus a few thousand "coalition" troops are unable to secure the oil pipelines, unable to restore order to major areas, unable even to protect themselves from dozens of attacks every day. Despite the rose-colored scenarios painted by the Bush administration, the country is already headed for civil war - just as intelligence officials predicted two years ago.
We invaded Iraq for one purpose, to remove Saddam Hussein from power. That mission, at least, has been accomplished. Our work there is done. There are no weapons of mass destruction and no programs to create any. Iraq is no threat to its neighbors or to the United States. It's time to leave.
If we left now, what would happen?
Most people claim that the entire country would descend into civil war. But that claim assumes that U.S. presence in Iraq is helping maintain order, not creating disorder. The facts don't bear that assumption out.
Every attack is aimed either at U.S. forces or at those people in Iraq who are aiding the U.S. or working for U.S. appointees. By leaving Iraq, and allowing Iraqis (possibly with help from United Nations peacekeepers) to determine their own course, those groups currently labeled "insurgents" would have no enemy.
At first, some of those groups would attack other Iraqis, as U.S. withdrawal would leave a power vacuum. There would be civil war. But Iraqis are killing each other now - there already is civil war. Furthermore, the current civil war can have no victor, and can only continue indefinitely. Without the U.S. causing more problems than we're solving, Iraqis have a chance to resolve their own problems by themselves.
It should be noted that the only country in the region that is moving toward democracy is the one country that kicked us out 25 years ago. Yes, they had severe problems for a while (and problems still exist), but at least they're generally moving in what we would call the right direction.
In the short term, a U.S. pullout from Iraq would mean a slight degradation of order. In the long term, it's the only hope Iraq has for stability, peace, prosperity and democracy. Meanwhile, we are wasting our time, our resources, and our soldiers' lives.
We must pull out now.
Copyright 2004, Dan Jacoby
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