There's No Point to Our Staying in Iraq

The news coming out of Iraq these days is so unremittingly bad that any observer not conversant with the history of our involvement would have to conclude that the U.S. invaded Iraq with the intention to destroy it using as little manpower as possible, and that this goal has succeeded beyond expectations. For not only have we destroyed it as a functioning nation, we have, by eradicating any extant Iraqi civilian and military authority and institutions, assured that the country would remain destroyed for years to come.

This is no mean feat. By the end of World War II, the allies had effectively destroyed Germany and Japan. Their cities, landscape, and people were but shells of their pre-war state. And, as with Iraq, since all civic institutions were in actuality puppets of the totalitarian state, they too were destroyed. Yet within a few years both countries were humming along quite nicely, and we helped them establish civic institutions that were stronger than any they had previously seen.

Now after three years in Iraq, our efforts to control the country appear to working in reverse, with the frequency of insurgency attacks rising with the length of our stay. In addition to attacks on our troops, invariably resulting in far greater bloodshed among Iraqi civilians, the dozens of bodiesthat regularly turn up at Iraqi morgues bespeak a world of horror beyond the reach of our embedded reporters or even our own troops.

And now we have the inevitable civilian-slaughter incident cropping up where one group of Marines took out their anger/horror/frustrations on some Iraqi's in Haditha last year, while today soldiers shot up a car running a road-block but which actually was frantically transporting a pregnant woman about to give birth. The woman and a companion were killed. Slaughter has become a way of life in Iraq, so it's hard to fault our troops when they're part of it. That's why we shouldn't want them to be a part of it. The administration's reaction to all this is to increase our presence there.
In Ramadi, an imminent American offensive may be imminent, as Al Qaeda forces appear to be securing a major foothold in the city.

Signs that Zarqawi-linked groups have taken over the city have been growing. One by one, Sunni sheiks who had vowed to fight radical Islamic insurgents in Al Anbar province have been assassinated...Ramadi residents say they have detected an intensified U.S. effort in recent days to wrest control of the city's streets from insurgents. A Sunni sheik said residents had begun to flee as American forces stepped up bombing raids and ground patrols in the last 10 days.

This all sounds like a replay of Fallouja, where residents fled the city in droves on the eve of an American offensive which succeeded in destroying the city, leaving hundreds of U.S. casualties, killing about 1,000 insurgents - but not damaging the insurgency in any meaningful way. Another such episode seems hardly worth it.

The cause - whatever that cause might be - is surely lost. Should we leave there will be a bloody civil war, but someone will emerge dominant. Who that may be is unimportant, at this point. Should we remain, the insurgency will continue as it is today for as long as we are there. Iran may try to take advantage of our leaving - let them try - they will fail, too. No matter how obligated we may feel to set things right, our efforts only make it worse. As General Odom argues, it's time to cut and run.