"In the end..."


From 8 NCO's after 15 months in Iraq:

This is a far more serious a mature assessment of political reality than I have heard from any beltway pundit of late. These people, and not the individuals ensconced in jobs for life, should be writing and advising on policy. Why isn't work like this the basis for political discussion?

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.

Until that happens, it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities.

We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.


Stirling Newberry August 19, 2007 - 4:07pm
( categories: Miscellany )

http://agonist.org/20070813/iraq_afghanistan_dual_fronts_aug_13_19



“les Etats-unis, c’est le seul pays à être passé de la préhistoire à la décadence sans jamais connaitre la civilisation…”...Georges Clemenceau

barrisj redux August 19, 2007 - 4:36pm

This is a rhetorical question, right?

quax August 19, 2007 - 5:30pm

Col. Theodore S. Westhusing did not get far either.

Lasthorseman August 19, 2007 - 6:12pm

Even blogging has been disallowed.


"George Washington did not cross the Delaware for Capitalism," Shmuley Boteach

nymole August 19, 2007 - 6:15pm

Maybe the NY Times is trying to make up for their disgraceful printing of the Pollack and O'Hanlon diary of their presentations from DOD officials in Baghdad, and allowing these two to represent themselves as "war critics".

These seven guys have some real courage in putting their careers on the line with this op/ed. Why would they do that if they didn't have at least a faint hope that enough people with influence will read it and do something that would save American lives (and probably Iraqi lives too) by getting our troops out of there?

Numerian August 19, 2007 - 11:44pm

next you'll be asking for economic policy crafted by non-ideologues and foreign policy crafted by people who actually speak the languages and know something of the nations in question.

chicago dyke August 20, 2007 - 9:38am

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