The War in Iraq

By John Jacobson

The war in Iraq has become a local issue for every American as money for roads, schools, health care, and the needs of our most vulnerable citizens is cut and the costs of a war the American people strongly oppose continues to mount.

We are told that the surge is working because violence is down. But the purpose of the surge, to give the Iraqi government time to do the business of governing, has hardly begun.

We are told that if we leave, a violent civil war will result. And yet, our disregard and lack of understanding of the long history of the unrest and even hatred between Sunnis and Shi'a is actually laying the foundation for protracted problems between these two groups after we withdraw. We barely keep the lid on the conflict by depending upon the cease-fire promises of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi'a cleric who commands an army reported to be over 80,000 strong. And, the foundation of the "peace" we boast about is a program to arm the Sunnis who previously killed our soldiers as insurgents, but who now "promise" to fight al-Qaida instead. They have not demonstrated any more loyalty to us than can be trusted beyond the ammo we provide. Will these weapons be put down when we leave or will they be used to continue the 2000 year long battle against their historic enemy, the Shi'a? Is our presence protecting Iraqis, or simply putting off the necessity for the Iraqi government to get to work and solve its country's serious problems? Are we really fighting terrorism, or primarily giving Islamic extremism a recruiting tool by fueling their contention that the war in Iraq is a clash of cultures, a war against Islam?

Our soldiers have done everything that we have asked of them. Now, we need to bring them home in an orderly and immediate withdrawal over the next year. A small force to protect our embassy and humanitarian efforts must be left in place.

At the same time, we must restore America's moral leadership by engaging with the international community including the regional governments who have most to gain from a stable, peaceful Iraq, to find a solution to the sectarian violence and require the Iraqi government to take responsibility for its country.