"The Logic of Withdrawal", a very concise and logical presentation

[splat@14]

of why we should leave now.
Splat

The eight reasons why leaving Iraq now is the only sensible option.
By Anthony Arnove, In These Times. Posted March 28, 2006

We find ourselves in a remarkable situation today. Despite a massive propaganda campaign in support of the occupation of Iraq, a clear majority of people in the United States now believes the invasion was not worth the consequences and should never have been undertaken.

Likewise, people strongly disapprove of the foreign policy of Republicans and Democrats in Congress, particularly their position on the war in Iraq. In a September 2005 New York Times-CBS News poll, support for immediate withdrawal stood at 52 percent, a remarkable figure when one considers that very few political organizations have articulated an "Out Now" position.

The official justifications for the war have been exposed as complete fallacies. Even conservative defenders of U.S. empire now complain that the situation in Iraq is a disaster.

Yet many people who opposed this unjust invasion, who opposed the 1991 Gulf War and the sanctions on Iraq for years before that, some of whom joined mass demonstrations against the war before it began, have been persuaded that the U.S. military should now remain in Iraq for the benefit of the Iraqi people. We confront the strange situation of many people mobilizing against an unjust war but then reluctantly supporting the military occupation that flows directly from it.

In part, this position is rooted in the pessimistic conclusions many drew after the February 15, 2003, day of international demonstrations -- perhaps the largest coordinated protest in human history -- failed to prevent the war. This pessimism was exacerbated by some of the leading spokespeople for the antiwar movement, who misled audiences by suggesting that the demonstrations could stop the war. As inspiring as the demonstrations were, it would have taken a significantly higher degree of protest, organization, and disruption of business as usual to do so.

The lesson of February 15 is not that protest no longer works, but that protest needs to be sustained, coherent, forceful, persistent, and bold -- rather than episodic and isolated. And it needs to involve large numbers of working-class people, veterans, military families, conscientious objectors, Arabs, Muslims, and other people from targeted communities, not just as passive observers but as active participants and leaders.

We will need this kind of protest to end the occupation of Iraq. But we will also need to be able to answer the objections and concerns of thoughtful, well-meaning people who have been persuaded by one or more of the arguments for why U.S. troops should remain in Iraq, at least until "stability" is restored. Below, I outline eight reasons why the United States should leave Iraq immediately, addressing common arguments for why the United States needs to "stay the course."

Explanation of each point at the site.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/34122/


The U.S. Military has no right ro be in Iraq in the first place.

The United States is not bringing democracy to Iraq.

The United States is not making the workd a safer place by occupying Iraq.

The United States is not preventing civil war in Iraq.

The United States is not confronting terrorism by staying in Iraq.

The United States is not honoring those who died by continuing the conflict.

The United States is not rebuilding Iraq.

The United States is not fulfilling its obligation to the Iraqi people for the harm and suffering it has caused.

[CarlSheeler4U]

1. The United States military and economy can't afford it

and a visionary domestic agenda....

[Jim__]

2. I don't believe the article addresses the main question

For me, the main question that needs to be answered about our leaving Iraq is: Can the United States alleviate the killing?

I don't know the answer to that. I agree that we are not currently helping. If the choice is between maintaining the current policies or leaving, I vote we leave. But, the mess in Iraq is a mess that we made. We are responsible for the deaths of Iraqis in the current strife. If we can somehow stop the killing, then I believe we are obligated to do so.

The article asserts:

If the Iraqis ask for outside assistance, that is their prerogative. But it is their decision, not ours, to make, and that decision can only be freely made if the United States, United Kingdom, and other occupying armies withdraw completely and end their economic, political, and military coercion of Iraq.

But there is no elaboration on this point. If any Iraqis ask us to stay, are we obligated to stay? If the Shiites begin to massacre the Sunnis, and the Sunnis ask for our help, do we help?

I marched against the war before we went in. The situation we have now is the nightmare that I feared. I don't know what we should do now. It is not enough to simply say we must leave. We have to work though all the scenarios. The article that you cite doesn't do that.

[splat@14]

4. Concur to a point. I agree the article didn't go into detail about

how to stop the killing and I doubt the author knows...I know I don't.
Agreed, we made the mess but I differ that any further US presence, whether asked for or not, will have anything other than an adverse effect on that. At least that's the way I took the article. I believe that the points in the article that we weren't stopping a civil war, weren't rebuilding Iraq, and definitely weren't protecting any lives now implies that the best thing for us to do to stop further deaths is to not cause them by being there. I don't submit that this will stop the killing but I do think it would help.

All very tragic.

Good stuff, thx Jim!
Splat

[chicofaraby]

3. No right to be there in the first place.

That is the bottom line. It is a crime. It remains a crime.

The USA has no right to invade other countries.

A 747 holds about 500 people. There are about 150,000 troops in Iraq.

How long does it take for 100 planes to make 3 trips each?

That is how long we should stay in Iraq.