I am sick to death of hearing politicians place the entire onus of repairing the damage done to Iraq on the Iraqi people.
Every day I read, listen to, and watch the news, and every day there are both old and new variations of "as they stand up, we'll stand down" leaving the mouths of plutocrats. I can't keep track of how often I hear elected official after elected official say that the Iraqis need to start taking responsibility for their own safety and security.
It's funny how the oh-so-pervasive cultural doctrine of Personal Responsibility is so selectively applied.
Don't get me wrong. My personal belief is that, at this point, the situation in Iraq is irreperable. There is nothing we can do to make it right, and therefore the best thing we
can do -- for everyone's sake -- is bring our troops home. Disagree if you wish, but that's just my take on it at this time.
What I don't get, however, is the constant pressure that our government seems to feel we must exert on the Iraqis to keep themselves safe. Do we think they WANT to be killed in daily car bombings and mortar attacks? Obviously -- "insurgents" aside -- typical Iraqis would very much like to see the violence end. The problem is they lack the means to clean up the mess that we created there. It should now be fairly obvious that even our own armed forces lack the means to clean up the mess that we created. So what gives?
Clearly the motivation is to shift culpability. It's easy to blame others: "Iraq is still a bloodbath? It's a shame they can't be civil like us..." What I'm looking for is for politicians who actually own up to what we've done. We need to get our troops out of there, look the world squarely in the eyes, and let the simplest of sentences leave our collective lips: "We're sorry". Good will, not violence, is the only way we'll be able to come close to restoring our previous standing in the international community.
That's my two cents. This is my first real diary entry here, so be gentle...