The Height Of Presidential Arrogance
By: Cedric McClester, Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
It is the height of presidential arrogance to suggest that it is time for the Iraqi government to stand on their two feet, considering we are the ones who knocked their legs from under them. Remember Shock and Awe? Who engineered that cataclysmic fiasco? You guessed it, America; the same America that now occupies their once sovereign land. We killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. We ruined their infrastructure and disbanded their army. Now we are demanding that their army stand up, so we can stand down. While there has been some progress toward that end, we are quite a distance from being able to stand down.
To be sure, the American people do not support the war that one of the most unpopular presidents in recent memory, got them into. The American people would like to see the troops withdrawn, sooner, rather than later. A strong argument against immediate withdrawal is that it would result in complete ciaos, as if ciaos is not what currently exists. Of course, presidential candidate John McCain, a staunch supporter of the current President, would have you believe that everything in Iraq is honky dory. The truth of the matter is the antithesis. Things couldn’t be worst. It doesn’t matter what you choose to call it, sectarian violence or civil war, Iraq is engaged in a pernicious brand of internecine warfare that isn’t likely to end any time soon. This means America’s armed forces are honor bound to remain until such time as things settle down. Absent American presence, what we are witnessing now could denigrate into wholesale ethnic cleansing.
Say what you will about Saddam Hussein he was a brutal dictator, but, he kept the trains running on time and the people in check. it wasn’t our place to remove him. That should have been left to the Iraqi people. There are those who would like to see George Bush removed. What do you think our response would be if a foreign power were to attempt to remove him? Do you think we would welcome them with open arms and garlands, or would we mount a tough resistance, as did the Iraqi people? The answer is obvious. President George Bush has gotten us into some deep do do and it will not be easy for us to extricate ourselves from the mess. The situation in Iraq is of our own making. Our standing in the world has diminished greatly during the Bush tenure. He has squandered every ounce of good will that existed after Nine-Eleven. To leave Iraq now wouldn’t help the situation one iota. It would further weaken us in the eyes of our allies and enemies. The question is, how much more loss of life and limb are the American people prepared to withstand before the bleeding is staunched? Recent public opinion polls would suggest that our patience is running thin. We are faced with a true dilemma, with no easy answer. We will probably have a presence in Iraq for many years to come.
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