Gov. Jon Corzine, based on two days in Iraq under the direct supervision of the military establishment, now views the situation there as too unstable to bring home American troops.
“The need for additional forces, particularly Iraq forces, is pretty obvious,” Corzine said in a conference call from Kuwait. “I came here believing we were in a better position than we are.”
Gov. Corzine expressed concern yesterday about a “growing and very transparent intervention of the Iranians” who he said were “certainly trying to destabilize things and pre-position if the U.S. created a vacuum.”
Trying to destabilize things? TRYING? Things are mess there and we are as responsible as anyone. Admittedly, leaving won’t necessarily make things better, but staying will only make things worse. Keep in mind that this is a civil war we are witnessing and that, as U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) has been saying for months, U.S. troops have become a catalyst, with Iraqis on all sides viewing us as an occupying force.
Our presence is turning even those Iraqis who at one time might have welcomed our presence into enemies.
The so-called Baker Commission is expected to recommend a phased pull-out and there has been noise made about bringing the neighboring powers — Syria and Iran — to the table to help settle this mess.
We should now turn this over to the United Nations, provide significant monetary assistance to cover the cost of the peacekeeping mission and pay for reconstruction (consider it reparations for the damage we helped create — and we can get the money by going after the profiteers like Halliburton). At the same time, we need to bring the various factions to the table, with help from the Iranians, Syrians and the United Nations, and hopefully get a ceasefire in place.
This is not a solution that should make anyone happy — but we are well beyond simple answers or simple rhetoric about “cutting and running” or leaving when our job is done. Unless we change our approach, our job will never be done.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 