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November 20, 2005

Former General Odom on the Iraq War

The former head of the NSA lists nine reasons people say we have to stay the course:

1) We would leave behind a civil war.

2) We would lose credibility on the world stage.

3) It would embolden the insurgency and cripple the move toward democracy.

4) Iraq would become a haven for terrorists.

5) Iranian influence in Iraq would increase.

6) Unrest might spread in the region and/or draw in Iraq's neighbors.

7) Shiite-Sunni clashes would worsen.

8) We haven’t fully trained the Iraqi military and police forces yet.

9) Talk of deadlines would undercut the morale of our troops.

Then he explains why the opposite is true in every single case.

Finally, he concludes:

The US invasion of Iraq only serves the interest of:

1) Osama bin Laden (it made Iraq safe for al Qaeda, positioned US military personnel in places where al Qaeda operatives can kill them occasionally, helps radicalize youth throughout the Arab and Muslim world, alienates America's most important and strongest allies – the Europeans – and squanders US military resources that otherwise might be finishing off al Qaeda in Pakistan.);

2) The Iranians (who were invaded by Saddam and who suffered massive casualties in an eight year war with Iraq.);

3) And the extremists in both Palestinian and Israeli political circles (who don't really want a peace settlement without the utter destruction of the other side, and probably believe that bogging the United States down in a war in Iraq that will surely become a war between the United States and most of the rest of Arab world gives them the time and cover to wipe out the other side.)

I disagree. The invasion itself is not the problem. The occupation is the problem. Why is their an occupation? The real reason for the invasion was to "strength our position in the region" not to liberate Iraq. They were so fearful of giving up control of the occupation to the UN that they failed to realize the UN - or NATO - was in fact the only possible path to strengthen our position in Iraq, not weaken it.

Posted by Mike at November 20, 2005 01:27 PM

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