One way out might be to get a conglomorate of countries, including those who supported and opposed the Iraqi war, to oversee the current administration in Iraq. Perhaps UN could facilitate something like that. Whatever happens, Iraqis must not be left to their own devices because the civil war and Islamic funamentalism will consume whatever hope the largely progressive and secular society has for their country.

Dear Ameen, I fail to understand why you think I said so.

I merely pointed out alternate reasons for the invasion. I’ve already said that Rummy screwed it up. Injecting democracy is just propoganda for the gallery. Iraq’s about strategic power. Invading Iraq was the right thing; doing it in 2003, and failing to have a better post-occupation plan was the failure. The US should have concentrated on Afghanistan, and kept Iraq til later, but Bush probably felt Saudi needed to be shown the good news early.

I fail to understand how the original idea to invade Iraq could be considered as well thought and brilliantly executed? To go through the bad military intel, the bad planning, the lack of strategic foresight and the over-riding mercenary goals would be to flog a dead horse really. This notion of democracy promotion as the US sees fit, that includes the invasion of countries to inject democracy through military authority, are as misguided as they are dangerous. Having claimed the life of one of the most loved and respected Human Rights advocates in Iraq, and at great cost to the UN itself, the US admin now dumps the civil and political affairs in the hands of those who are ill prepared, or who warned that what we see at present would be the inevitable outcome of the US administration’s damned war on terror.

And to the contrary, M, the US isn’t withdrawing troops; they’re actually attempting to increase thhe numbers in-country.

I agree with the American right that all of us face a great threat from the sort of totalitarian fundamentalism spread from the middle east throughout the region and increasingly, the world. It is paramount that we attack its origins and destroy this evil before it takes over our liberties and freedoms and converts the whole western world into a religious theocracy. This is not to say that this should be a crusade against Islam. Rather, it is to create a moderate form of the religion the same way post-newtonian science, democracy and secular values have influenced and tamed Christianity during the past few centuries.

While it’s clear now that the world would have been a better place had the Iraqi invasion not taken place, it’s important to consider the implications of a withdrawal at this critical time. It would certainly make the current Iraqi regime collapse, and may give rise to a religious extremist government led by either one of the warring factions. It would be seen by terrorists everywhere as a triumph over the west, or perhaps even a divine intervention on their behalf. Even the left-liberals in the west who have always opposed the Iraq war could see that an exit at this time would only make the matters worse. The situation in Iraq is bad, but it has the potential to get much worse. The people fighting against the US backed regime are against all the values and principles we abide by, and a defeat for US in Iraq would be a defeat for everything they, we and you stand for. The unfortunate thing is that just like with the case of Sri Lanka, the leftists are unable to see beyond their romantic adoration of the insurgents and the hatred against the “oppressive occupational forces”.