Monday, August 21, 2006

Iraqi Ambassador to U.S.: Quitting irresponsible, dangerous

Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaida'ie, in today's Washington Post:

The United States cannot escape responsibility for the current situation in Iraq. Not only would abandoning Iraq to its fate now be irresponsible, it would almost certainly lead to disintegration and dictatorship, with a high risk of a wide regional conflict. It would be catastrophic not just for Iraq but also for the United States and for world peace and stability for decades to come. On the other hand, winning this war would be one of the best gifts the United States could make to the world and to its own people.

He's dead on, here. The time for the anti-war wailing and gnashing of teeth was in the months-long build up to the Iraq War. Now that we've done so, it is our responsibility to stabilize the country and to help it build up a security force. Otherwise, what we will have effectively done is de-quill a porcupine in a forest full of predators. In fact, it would be worse than that because leaving Iraq vulnerible to its neighbors will only guarentee that we'll have to go back their again at some point.

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