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Aaron Klemz writes,
"No
person can look at the situation on the ground in Iraq and conclude that immediate, unilateral withdrawal of US troops at
this point would provide justice, security and freedom for Iraqis. Immediate withdrawal of US troops would cause the immediate
collapse of governance in Iraq, acceleration of the violence between ethnic and religious groups, the establishment of a classic
"weak state" that would provide a base of operation for regional and international terrorist groups, and/or fragmentation
of Iraq into regions that would cause a full-blown civil war and regional conflict."
Doug Mann responds,
The
US invaded Iraq without a plan to provide security and facilitate the establishment of a strong Iraqi state. In fact, the
US government smashed the Iraqi state (army, police, and most of the state bureaucracy) creating a situation where the government
installed by the US that was extremely dependent on the presence of US troops and support personnel. That policy also added
a lot of fuel to the insurgency. If the US simply leaves, immediately, unilaterally, and unconditionally, the resolution of
the political crisis in Iraq is probably not going to be to the liking of the Bush administration and the leadership of the
Democratic and Republican parties.
A "responsible" plan for quickly withdrawing from Iraq is not a real option because
George Bush is the guy in charge, and the US Congress does not appear to be inclined to boot him out of office before his
term ends in 2009. And it also appears that a huge majority of Congress members are, and always have been in favor of staying
the course set by George Bush in Iraq. Expecting George Bush to cleanup the mess and get out as soon as possible is a lot
like expecting a fox to guard a chicken coop without killing any chickens.
Jay Pond is opposed to pulling US troops
out of Iraq before the Bush administration cleans up the mess it made over there. I wouldn't trust Bush to clean up the mess
even if I thought he could do so. He might have been able to clean up the mess and get out of Iraq within a year, leaving
behind a "strong state," if that had been the plan from the beginning. It is too late for that now. In my opinion, there is
no way that the political crisis in Iraq is going to be resolved before the US gets out, and the sooner the better.
Jay
Pond said he was for the immediate, unilateral withdrawal of US troops from Iraq the day that he was nominated as the Green
Party's 5th District US House candidate. Now he's staked out a position against the immediate, unilateral withdrawal of troops
from Iraq in the press, but still distributes campaign literature that says "US Out of Iraq Now," for tactical reasons?
I
am conditionally supporting Keith Ellison. If he sticks to his Out Now position until election day, he'll get my vote. If
that happens, it will be the first time I will have ever voted for a Democrat or Republican for a federal office. The
only reason I even considered voting for Keith is that the Green Party candidate reverted back to a "we just can't cut and
run position."
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