Concerning War: The Merit of the Pull-Out

Pining over this debate about the future of Iraq – whether to stay the course, commit to a troop surge, or withdraw—I can’t help but ponder how these modes of action have worked in my own life. Staying the course is, undoubtedly, a strong option—an option that shows stamina, lastingness. The administration goes further to assert the strongest of options, the troop surge. For them, we should arm ourselves with protection and plow on ahead, pummeling that country until the surge results in an ecstatic climax of democracy and prosperity across the entire Arab civilization.

The anti-war community in this country has failed to fairly portray the merit in the withdrawal method—the pull-out. Its effectiveness has been proven, even advocated by a number of awareness and advocacy groups across the country. It has also been a method irresponsibly ignored by so many, beginning some sixty-years ago in New Haven, Connecticut. If Barbara Bush had been a student of the withdrawal method in those days, and not yelled excitedly for Bush Senior to “stay the course!”…need I say more. It costs far less than staying the course, and if one were to ask the soldiers on the ground, they will undoubtedly find consensus in the idea that it feels better too.

But we will not walk away from this with all smiles, not beyond the initial sigh of satisfaction. There are negative affects of pulling-out. They are numerous, but the most obvious has to be the mess left behind. Pulling-out often involves an immediate clean-up process following, and Iraq will be no exception. Withdrawing now doesn’t erase the muck. The residue of this engagement in the middle-east will stain all corners of the region, and leave many Iraqis kneeling under the brunt of the neo-con’s load.

No one says we are getting out of this intercourse without some awkward and dirty fumblings-around. ‘Tis the nature of the beast, but now that we have successfully screwed Iraq from more angles than humanly possible, isn’t it now a good idea to pull-out, before spawning more little quagmires for which we must care?