See, here’s the thing. Iraq is already in significant ruin, thanks to our invasion. Sure Saddam is gone, woo hoo, but there should have been more planning for post-Saddam, more planning for how to handle the looting, more planning for how to help Iraq get back on its feet, and more planning for an exit strategy. If all of those things were in place (and I won’t even start talking about WMDs), then maybe things wouldn’t be in such disarray. Maybe the war could have been supported by more people and countries, instead of having it be an illegal war, one that is opposed by the UN, even. It was insane to go there to begin with.
Now the reality is that things are in such disarray. Americans are getting killed by the thousands, now. Iraquis are getting killed by the… what, tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s an untenable amount.
The reality is also that sure, the situation in Iraq may get worse if we get out. But jeez, isn’t that what happened in Vietnam? What will be the Iraq equivalent of the fall of Saigon? The difference is that there was no oil in Vietnam, there was only communism. Then it all ties into environmental concerns and alternative energy issues. Everything is connected.
But what it comes down to is that it’s not our place to fight in another country’s civil war, which is what is happening. At most, we should be providing humanitarian aid (which I think would be a great idea). Not with tanks and machine guns, but with food and medical supplies and building materials and advisors. The soldiers being there isn’t helping.
I also think at times about the state of life for other folks in the world, and realize how completely fortunate I have been.
The war is a difficult thing for me. It seems like it should be time to get out of there, but the larger part of my heart and brain says it would be worse if we did. Without continuing efforts and money to help establish the country of Iraq as a player in the world economy, I’m afraid we will leave it in such ruin that we will generate worse problems. My weak knowledge of history can only come up with two cases where we were at war with a country that was defeated on their own territory that resulted in prosperity; Germany and Japan. In both cases we spent a large sum of money to help rebuild, and especially in the case of Germany kept a contingency of armed personnel there to ensure progress.
I wish I had the answers.