It's not about the surge, it's about the wrong war

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20080114e

The national discussion concerning Iraq has taken some very peculiar turns. Ever since the Bush administration launched its Baghdad "surge" the discussion has revolved around whether there should be a surge; whether a surge will succeed; and how long it should last. This all misses the point. Whether this surge or any surge succeeds and defeats the Iraqi resistance is actually beside the point. The issue is that the war itself is wrong and has been since it was first launched.

Some people of good will have suggested that the surge, and for that matter continued US military involvement in Iraq, are critical because otherwise Iraq will completely disintegrate. My first response is simple: Have you been watching what has been playing out ever since the US invaded?

My second response is better explained through this analogy. Let's suppose that someone informed the police that there were drugs in your home. In the middle of the night the police bang down the door and invade your home, ransacking it in search of drugs; handcuffing you and your family and taking you to jail; seizing your money and other assets. Members of your family have been abused, and are traumatized as a result of imprisonment.

Then, one day, it is 'discovered' that there never were any drugs in your home. The police never apologize, but they do TELL you that they will rebuild your home according to specifications that THEY decide. They will set you and your family free, but there will, nevertheless, be periodic police visits to your home. They will return your money, but they insist that they will tell you how and where to spend it.

Would you call that a good deal? Would you want the police to stay around? Would you trust the police to rebuild your home?

What we, in the USA, cannot step around is a very simple fact, a fact that should control all other facts: the USA had no legal basis to invade Iraq and none to remain as occupier. The pretexts for the invasion were falsehoods, spread by the Bush administration in order to create fear here in the USA and elsewhere.

One cannot correct this illegal action by insisting on staying in Iraq until things get 'better.' Even if the Iraqi resistance is militarily defeated, it will prove nothing more than that the USA has a stronger military force. The bottom line, which comes through in opinion poll after opinion poll of the Iraqi people is that they want the USA out of Iraq.