My Vote is for "Go Home"

It is being reported that the Pentagon has drawn up an options paper for Iraq which has been given the nickname "Go Big, Go Long or Go Home." This is shorthand for either more troops, a longer stay or a pullout. My vote is for "Go Home." I do not think the American presence in Iraq is doing any good and by all accounts it is making the situation worse by inflaming anti-American hostility in the Muslim world and thereby creating a fertile ground for the recruitment of terrorists. There have been so many reasons given for being in Iraq that I do not even think the Bush Administration knows why we are there. In my view it was a combination of arrogance, greed, irresponsibility, incompetence and recklessness fueled by President Bush's bravado, oil and military/industrial interests, apocalyptic Christianity, and neoconservative imperialism. Let me be blunt. I do not care if the Iraqis have democracy. If they want it they can get it for themselves. And, yes, Saddam Hussein was a bad guy but that did not stop us from supporting him when he fought against Iran and he is not unlike many of the bad guys the United States supported during the Cold War because they were anti-communist. Let's stop compounding the error at the cost of American lives. I also do not want to here the Republican line that we have to finish the job for the sake of the troops that died. That is just flawed thinking. First of all, we do not even know what the job is. Second, every soldier, sailor, marine or airman that makes the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq gave his life for his fellow citizens because that was his job and it does not matter if the war is good , bad, right or wrong. The politicians will have to live with those lives on their consciences because of an ill advised policy. All of us should honor the valor and courage of our fallen men and women.

Finally, if we are to use our military and intelligence resources properly, it should be for going after Bin Laden and other known terrorists. Why hasn't the U.S. military been scouring Afghanistan for the last 5 years. I think that when the new Democratic Congress begins in January each day someone should make a speech on either the floor of the House or Senate indicating how many days it has been since September 11, 2001, and that Bin Laden still has not been captured. According to my calculations it is 1896 days. Think about that.