December 1, 2006 11:02 AM
- Text
Get The Troops Out Of Iraq, And Fast
WMD, Iraq Flag and map, the Capitol dome (CBS/AP)
(The Nation)
This column is an editorial that appears in The Nation
With Iraq descending ever further into chaos and civil war, the first order of business of the new Democratic Congress when it convenes in January must be to pass a resolution establishing a clear and expeditious timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Such a resolution would not only reflect the will of the American people; it would offer the only reasonable course of action. The inescapable truth is that the Bush Administration — first with its illegal and unjustified invasion and then with its divide-and-rule occupation — has produced in Iraq a strategic and human catastrophe of untold proportions. There is nothing we can responsibly do except withdraw U.S. troops and work with other nations to keep the civil war and chaos from spreading to neighboring countries while providing humanitarian relief to Iraq's victims.
Some members of Congress, however — including some in the Democratic Party —continue to resist setting a clear timetable for withdrawal. Others say they prefer to wait and see the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group (ISG), which according to preliminary reports will offer a range of familiar policy ideas for stabilizing Iraq, including reining in the militias, training more Iraqi troops and pressuring the Shiite-dominated government to include more Sunnis.
Yet the monstrous events of November put an end to the illusion that U.S. forces can somehow stabilize Iraq before they leave. The bloody civil war, brutal revenge killings and escalating sectarian violence claimed more than 200 Iraqi lives over the Thanksgiving weekend alone, promising to make November an even deadlier month than October, which according to a United Nations report saw 3,709 Iraqi civilians killed. The 140,000 American troops in Iraq were unable to prevent this violence, just as they have been unable to stop the ethnic cleansing that has taken place over the past year. According to the UN, 365,000 Iraqis have fled their homes and communities since the bombing of the mosque in Samarra in February, and more than 50,000 are fleeing their homes every month.
These statistics do not fully capture the gruesome horror that much of Iraq has become. Nor do they capture how helpless U.S. forces are to establish security. As journalist Nir Rosen reported earlier this year, "The Americans are just one more militia lost in the anarchy." Indeed, the Iraqi government has no authority outside the Green Zone, nor any control over the proliferating Shiite and Sunni militias.
The notion that the Iraq Study Group can offer new ideas for stabilizing Iraq is just the latest imperial illusion preventing Washington from facing reality. If it is honest, the Baker-Hamilton commission will acknowledge that the only feasible option for America is to leave — as quickly as possible.
The recommendations that the ISG is reportedly considering have all been attempted, without success, in one guise or another over the past two years. The Administration has tried training the Iraqi army and police and has only empowered and supplied more militias, who have used the police and now the army as cover for their death squads. It has pushed the Maliki government to dismantle the Shiite militias, only to be told that both the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization are either off-limits because they're aligned with the government or beyond its control.
With Iraq descending ever further into chaos and civil war, the first order of business of the new Democratic Congress when it convenes in January must be to pass a resolution establishing a clear and expeditious timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Such a resolution would not only reflect the will of the American people; it would offer the only reasonable course of action. The inescapable truth is that the Bush Administration — first with its illegal and unjustified invasion and then with its divide-and-rule occupation — has produced in Iraq a strategic and human catastrophe of untold proportions. There is nothing we can responsibly do except withdraw U.S. troops and work with other nations to keep the civil war and chaos from spreading to neighboring countries while providing humanitarian relief to Iraq's victims.
Some members of Congress, however — including some in the Democratic Party —continue to resist setting a clear timetable for withdrawal. Others say they prefer to wait and see the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group (ISG), which according to preliminary reports will offer a range of familiar policy ideas for stabilizing Iraq, including reining in the militias, training more Iraqi troops and pressuring the Shiite-dominated government to include more Sunnis.
Yet the monstrous events of November put an end to the illusion that U.S. forces can somehow stabilize Iraq before they leave. The bloody civil war, brutal revenge killings and escalating sectarian violence claimed more than 200 Iraqi lives over the Thanksgiving weekend alone, promising to make November an even deadlier month than October, which according to a United Nations report saw 3,709 Iraqi civilians killed. The 140,000 American troops in Iraq were unable to prevent this violence, just as they have been unable to stop the ethnic cleansing that has taken place over the past year. According to the UN, 365,000 Iraqis have fled their homes and communities since the bombing of the mosque in Samarra in February, and more than 50,000 are fleeing their homes every month.
These statistics do not fully capture the gruesome horror that much of Iraq has become. Nor do they capture how helpless U.S. forces are to establish security. As journalist Nir Rosen reported earlier this year, "The Americans are just one more militia lost in the anarchy." Indeed, the Iraqi government has no authority outside the Green Zone, nor any control over the proliferating Shiite and Sunni militias.
The notion that the Iraq Study Group can offer new ideas for stabilizing Iraq is just the latest imperial illusion preventing Washington from facing reality. If it is honest, the Baker-Hamilton commission will acknowledge that the only feasible option for America is to leave — as quickly as possible.
The recommendations that the ISG is reportedly considering have all been attempted, without success, in one guise or another over the past two years. The Administration has tried training the Iraqi army and police and has only empowered and supplied more militias, who have used the police and now the army as cover for their death squads. It has pushed the Maliki government to dismantle the Shiite militias, only to be told that both the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization are either off-limits because they're aligned with the government or beyond its control.
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