Without dissecting the theological tenents and moral triggers for a “justified or Just War”, America carries a moral obligation as it pertains to the war in Iraq. Such obligation requires us to leave Iraq secure with hope for a future. Regardless of the plethora of errors committed in the onset of and for this war, the current sectarian violence and de facto civil war demand that we fix a situation that exists as a direct result of our engagement.

To leave Iraq today without creating the economic, political and security infrastructures necessary for success would exponentially increase our liability and compound our errors. Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Marshall Plan after World War II, and economic aid after numerous military excursions successfully employed the values of Justice and Reconciliation embedded in the American narrative.

We may not have had a legitimate moral imperative for war in Iraq. Today, we do have a moral imperative to stay in Iraq until we secure peace. A nation demonstrates its military prowess in war, its moral authority in advocating peace.

At the end of the day, our moral imperatives must drive us to advocate a foreign policy of justice. If we must take the lead on the war on terror, let us simultaneously take the lead on the war on poverty. If we are committed to eradicating Al Qaeda, let us be equally committed to eradicating AIDS. We went into Iraq with faulty intelligence; let us depart with righteous conviction after we heal and reconcile.