I have a question for the next president

[whosinpower]

We now know that there were no WMD in Iraq. We now know that there was no imminent or pre-imminent threat by Iraq to the USA. We now know that there were no ongoing biological or chemical weapons programs in Iraq. We now know that the nuclear program was dead from 1991 and had not been reconstituted as was claimed. With these points, we now know that Saddam did NOT have these arsonals - which begs a question (the first one) did he comply with the UN demands that he disarm - in the spirit of the resolutions???????

And secondly, knowing all this, knowing that the US went to war under false pretenses, knowing that we were misled, how can we continue the crusade? How can we PRESUME that Iraq will someday be a sort of US loving democracy, when we know for a fact, that we went over there and destroyed the country for lies, misstatements, exaggerations and false intelligence? How can we fight for some semblance of the moral high ground when we took the low road to imperialism?

I am fully aware of the tightrope the next president is walking on. Antiwar sentiments seem to be antipresidential.....I sort of understand that. But, how can you continue a policy that was so wrong in so many ways? If you start down a wrong road - how is it that you somehow think you will get to your destination in full knowledge that it was the WRONG ROAD?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I have a question for you? What would you do?

Do we leave their phone lines and water delivery systems in shambles? Do we leave them without a standing army to protect themselves? Do we leave them to a civil war?

[Melodybe]

2. Right on NSMAM, I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Goldmund]

3. Yes, I would

I would leave them to uncertainty as opposed to certain chaos. You would never trust somebody who once tried to kill you and suddenly claim good intentions. There is _nothing_ that the US can do that the people of Iraq will ever accept, and rightly so.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Funny it turned out in Germany and Japan

[Goldmund]

6. Germany and Japan were not preemptively attacked without justification,

and the people of Germany and Japan knew that.

[whosinpower]

7. They will never ever accept the US

They will not accept any form of help - oh sure, the US handpicked puppet government will gladhand and tout US ideals - but that is not the insurgents is it? They will not accept that government - they will not accept any foreign reconstruction help. They will not accept any foreign aid worker help. And this insurgency is growing daily - and it is not that Iraq is being flooded with islamic foreign fighters, most of the insurgency is homegrown, resistance to the occupation freedom fighters.

An estimated 70 percent of Iraqi's are unemployed - 70 PERCENT! 80 percent of Iraqi's polled recently feel they would be SAFER if the US left.

What would I do? You mean other than curse Bush for the corner he has backed the US into.......well, I would announce a framework for a US withdrawal. I am not talking about cutting and running - but a framework that would allow the US troops to leave - that is right - leave - NO US BASES. That framework would include taking a up-to-date cencus of the Iraqi population, that framework would include a real democratic process of elections with no US intervention. That framework would include a timeline to accomplish these goals. The framework would also render all US provisional declarations temporary and nonbinding within a timeline.

Once an Iraqi government is elected, the US would leave unconditionally. If the US presence is the only thing that would stop a civil war, then perhaps it is better to just let it happen and let events occur as they will anyways. I just cannot see a point where the anger, mistrust and ambivilance towards the US would cease to be a major problem within Iraq. It is catch-22 all over again.

[Q3JR4]

4. That's why you get the U.N. involved.