Pull out?

All those who want to pull out of Iraq now seem to want one thing: to protect their own hides. How is pulling out going to help the Iraqis? Didn’t the mosque bombing clue them in? These terrorists aren’t fighting a war against America. They are fighting a war against any form of freedom; freedom which the Shiites currently support; freedom that has taken power away from the minority Sunnis. And it’s not even the Sunnis. It’s a small faction within the Sunnis, combined with foreign terrorists. These are the killers in Iraq.

The fact is, no war is won by setting an end date. Every war is won by setting a goal, no matter the time or cost involved. Our goal should be a stable and democratic Iraq. This is Bush’s goal. The Democratic goal seems to be to beat Bush and the Republicans. I know no one is innocent here. There are lies, scandals, and partisan politics on all sides, but if I put that behind me and think of the Iraqis, I wonder what choice we have. Will we let petty politics condemn these people to losing their chance at freedom? Getting our troops out is a bad objective, if it simply means setting a timetable. It is a wonderful objective if it means making the war more effective by uniting behind the cause of a stable and democratic Iraq. It will require time, money, and, worst of all, lives. But freedom has always required lives. This should not shock anyone. It is hard, it is undesireable, but is unavoidable.

Forget the past for now. Finish the war. Unite and do what it takes to rid Iraq of the insurgency and allow our troops to leave the country. Then, and only then, when Iraq is stable and our troops are back home, should we look back and say, what can we learn from this? Doing it now is distracting us, diverting resources and support, and will drag us down in the end. I am not against questioning our government. I am against questioning our government at times when it will hinder such a delicate and vital process.