Withdraw U.S. forces

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20030820/cm_usatoday/11644726&cid=679&ncid=1501

By Richard E. Rubenstein

Question: When is a conquering army a liberator rather than an occupier?

Answer: When it leaves the conquered country and lets the local people decide their own fate.

During the past five months, Iraq has turned into a tar-paper trap worthy of Br'er Rabbit. The more we try to win the war against anti-American and anti-British guerrillas there, the more we become stuck in a no-win situation.

Violent attacks against the occupying troops, their allies and their Iraqi collaborators have taken place at the rate of approximately 13 assaults per day, and the pace is stepping up. Unfortunately, the measures adopted by U.S. forces to combat the resisters are virtually guaranteed to expand and strengthen the resistance movement.

Mass sweeps and arrests, the establishment of detention camps, harsh questioning (if not torture) of suspects to extract information, nullification of ordinary court procedures, hair-trigger responses to apparent threats and postponement of political reforms. Measures such as these are certain to enrage a people who are already hostile to foreign occupation. <snip>

"Staying the course" has a noble ring, but "Don't tread on me" is more to the point. Of all people, the heirs of 1776 should understand the difference between a foreign occupation and national liberation.

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