So it’s finally happened.
Ed board isn’t sure if the nation is in mourning over the passing of the phrase “stay the course,” the much-loved mantra of President George W. Bush about the war in Iraq.
But considering the state of affairs in the Middle East, letting go of the slogan was probably a good move.
The Army has quietly announced that it estimates it will need troops to stay in Iraq through 2010. Tours of duty are being extended both there and in Afghanistan. The Iraqi police force still lacks any real authority and violence has flared in the past month, the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. The military has admitted that it has given wrong information about the circumstances surrounding troop deaths to seven families, including Pat Tillman’s. The U.S. death toll is nearing 3,000, and with more than 100 deaths in October, things aren’t looking up.
It’s time to change the course.
The time has passed to discuss the morality of invading Iraq, at least in terms of ruminating on action. Troops are there and troops are dying. We can’t ignore the reality that things are going less than swimmingly.
Bush himself has compared October – the bloodiest month since the war “ended” – to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Ed board isn’t sure if Bush understands the ramifications of this comparison (the Tet Offensive is generally thought of as a turning point for the worse in Vietnam), but we’re pretty sure it’s an apt comparison.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, John W. Warner (R – Va.), said after his Oct. 5 visit to the country that if the situation hadn’t improved, tactical changes would be necessary. Sens. Kay Baily Hutchison and John Cornyn – both Texas Republicans – are echoing the charge to change strategy.
This is especially crucial since the Army’s drive to help the weak Iraqi forces in charge of Baghdad has failed miserably. More than 12,000 U.S. troops were deployed there in mid-October, and the capital has yet to see any tangible results.
With mid-term elections coming up, it’s probably pretty tempting for Republicans and Democrats to use Iraq as a political bludgeon. This, needless to say, is not in the best interests of the American people – or the rest of the world.
Our nation’s conduct in Iraq is the barometer by which other world leaders gauge our foreign policy. Is our country to be seen as one that refuses to acknowledge its failures for fear of seeming weak? Or one that can accurately ascertain the ins and outs of a complex situation that it created?
No matter what the outcome in Iraq, America already has egg on its face. We arrogantly thought we could create a new form of government in a matter of months in a society that had been entrenched in dictatorships for the better part of a century. The “Shock and Awe” campaign has left a country in shambles, and it’s our responsibility to clean it up. It’s time we admit our mistakes, ask for help, revise our strategy, get honest and move on.
