The following quote by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw:
Because - unlike in Afghanistan - although we are part of the security solution there, we are also part of the problem.
illustrates the conundrum facing we who are anti-Iraq war and also "support the troops." Read below to find out why it's "damned if you do, damned if you don't."
I met a soldier last weekend who had finished his enlistment after a tour in Afghanistan and a tour in Iraq. It was a happy time for both of us, as we were returning from a big beer festival here in Portland, OR. His boyish, freckly face (he was probably about 25) was relaxed as I thanked him for his service, and his eyes rolled as I made an oblique reference to the way the war was being managed. Meet any Iraqi war vet, and the first thing you want to do is hug him or her and promise to get their comrades out of Iraq ASAP.
The Iraqi constitution, which the warfloggers are going to trumpet as the Next Great Tipping Point, may end up tipping things the other way once we find out that we are sacrificing blood and treasure for Taliban Lite. And bearing in mind Straw's comment that Western military presence is part of the problem, how can we even consider greater sacrifice, and greater death and destruction to the Iraqis themselves?
If it were in our power, should we militate to leave this mess now?
If we did, however, the political realities here at home would be intolerable. You know what I mean. Regardless of years of deceptions, arrogance, and incompetence by the Bush regime, the blame for the entire mess would be placed at our feet if we even dared organize mass protests, much less succeeded in changing policy. It would be the same divisive Viet Nam argument all over again. If only we had "stayed the course" we would have prevailed. The flip side of the argument, that headlong rushes into foolishness only lead to more harm, would never be explored.
So, do we want to do the right thing and pay the consequences, or turn in to our political adversaries and knowingly, willingly sacrifice our troops in order to avoid being blamed for our leaders' tragic mistakes? That is the conundrum facing us.