Even if a pullout from Iraq is decided today, at least 2 years period is required enable the last soldier to be withdrawn.
Better decide exit today to avoid genocide.

Despite a justifiable desire to see a prolonged and orderly US departure from Iraq on Iraqi terms, I can't help but conclude that "that which results from a foul deed, will bloom in an equally foul manner" regardless of how much more blood and treasure we continue investing into Iraq. The US invasion of Iraq was an indisputably foul-deed that has torn the lid off of reprehensible sectarian impulses in Iraq and equally foul political antics at home.

I marched for peace as the drumbeats of war gained thunder and momentum among our morally-bankrupt leaders in Washington; have opposed the war ever since; and desperately want to hear that the only mission the US is capable of accomplishing be declared "accomplished", which should compel both American and Iraqi societies to set their own houses in order.

In fact, the ONLY thing that US society can still do to attempt to make up for our leaders ill-fated "breaking" of Saddam's Iraq, is to FInally hold our "leaders" accountable and (for better and worse) compel them to FInally make good on their original (albeit disigenuous) promise of granting Iraqi society their independence.

Otherwise, there will never be enough Salams to counter the violent resentment of Iraqi nationalists or the rabid zealotry of religious terrorists directed at the American occupation of Their Homeland.

Support the Troops! Bring Them Home.

Salam Islam: Your life experiences are not part of what the average American can understand - forty years of living under a brutal dictator who murders an opponant's entire family, not just the opponant; forty years of autocratic, tyrannical government; forty years of not trusting almost anyone. It's easy for those ignorant of your country's history to sneer, "You Iraqis should have gotten rid of Saddam yourselves." I pray that you and your fellow Iraqi citizens will successfully use the precious opportunity the Coalition Forces are handing you to forge Iraq's future as a free and democratic nation.

Why celebrate the anniversary of a statue falling? The symbolism is all but lost because of the mess the country is currently facing.
Once the country is united and the U.S. has brought most/all of their forces home, there will be something big to celebrate. Until then, it would be best to concentrate on the many problems plaguing Iraq and U.S. forces and mourn the many lives lost during O.I.F and taken by Iraqi insurgents.

A huge chunk suggested reaction knew from stretching

now that iraq is in transition into democracy, which m. east country would be next?

we just pulled up across let it go. one night, suggested and magnificent most crashing down into the yard, often

Bravo on your excellent comments.

I met a man recently who expressed that the American invasion was a gift from God. He was in a political prison awaiting execution.

When I saw the reports of that underground prison that kept children in order to pressure parents to toe the party line, at that point I was personally confident that this country had done the right thing.

I just wish that the new constitution had guaranteed religious freedom and taken the sectarian issue out of your nation's governance.

Oh, I forgot someone shot your little brother and your nephew was blown up by an IED too.

I am not an Iraqi so I can not answer the question you asked except from my own perspective. How would you like it if 10,000 Canadian soldiers took up residence on your back forty which is also your fruit farm and only income. And then you were also too scared to leave the house because of a few snipers who you have no idea where they are hiding or who they are.

Mr. organizing a refugee system, I thought that plan like you mentioned was already tried in Palestine. How did that work out?

anonymous, the experts come from the think tanks. the boneheads who got us in to Iraq. They are nothing. They have never done a darn thing for America except come up with stupid ideas like invading Iraq. All the people who have died fighting for real causes in America's history thrown to the wind by a bunch of boneheads and killing and maiming a million or so Iraqi citizens.

george, your comments are not even close to the truth. What was it, two years before Bush and Cheney would allow free elections. the plan, the real plan, was to immediatley install Chalabi as head of Iraq. thats how feeble the plan was.

Lynn Cheney, You wrote a book about growing up in Wyoming. Go do a book now on children growing up in Iraq. I'm serious.

The reason there was no Iraqi face is because the Iraqis didn't remove Saddam; the Americans and British did.

Nothing against the peshmerga, but their prowess is a myth. All those Kurds couldn't take out a few hundred committed Islamists holing up in a valley in Kurdistan. It wasn't until the Americans showed up in the form of airpower and drove them out of the valley.

The same can be said of the Shiites.

It was too difficult a task to get Iraqis to act like one people and to join forces to topple Saddam. Maybe in a hundred years when tribe, religious sect, or ethnicity aren't more important than the nation.

The least bloody solution for Iraq is a three state solution. The other option is to pull out and let the civil war go all out. If the Shiites quickly defeat the Arab Sunnis or vice versa they will then do the same to the Kurds.

"Was it worth getting rid of Saddam Hussein?"

In the real world, that question does not even arise, given the Iraq adventure had nothing to do with getting rid of Saddam Hussein, Bush jr. having made it known the invasion would take place even were President Saddam Hussein to leave the floor.

The question "was that adventure worth it?" ought to be put to the millions: refugees, innocent victims who were maimed or crippled for life, had babies with malformations at birth because of depleted uranium having been used on civilian populations, lost loved ones, lost everything, saw their country and cultural heritage destroyed, etc. Those are the people the question should be put to.

I believe their answer would be, overwhelmingly, that paying such a high price was never even necessary, in order to get rid of a once friendly dictator. How could it be worth it, given that was not even the goal of the adventure in the first place?

History will one day show the world and posterity where the truth lied. It always does, ultimately.

Dan's comments about suicide bombers are misinformed. The Quran condemns suicide as a grave sin. The only thing the Quran promises to those who take their own lives is hell. More likely is the fact that this sad trend springs from people who see no future, and have no means to strike out at an powerhouse oppressor. It's no small coincidence that it's roots are in Palestine. What your country needs to ask is what hand they have in making others' lives so meaningless. You launch a bombing campaign called "Shock and Awe," put a nation on the brink of civil war, and then wonder why people are suicidal. It's called depression. Go over and live their lives for a few months and see how your mental health holds up. Don't blame the Quran or Arabs for the conditions your country created.

Dan,
If only the world was as simple as you.

Salam Islam! Why don't you stand up and tell Iraq people that Americans are our friends. Go tell Sadr that. Where did all these Mid East specialists come from?

Its good to hear your thoughts.

We are paying off the Sunni's right now in Anbar and it seems to be working.

I have a question. If say we had budgeted $1 trillion for Iraq, and offered every Iraqi man, woman and child $36,000 ($1T divided by Iraq's population of 27,500,000) each to depose Saddam.

Could that have worked? No Americans would have died and far less than the 700,000 Iraqi's would have died.

Because we are spending $14 billion a month there now we could pay each Iraqi a monthly $509 instead.

With this deal we could also have also got access to the oil I'm sure.

This is to follow up on "Religion Preventing Peace".

Salam: how would Iraqis feel if some international governing body (e.g. the UN) set up a massive refugee system wherein the 20 million or so non-violent/non-insurgent Iraqis could voluntarily be taken from Iraq and relocated to a peaceful economically stable country where these refugees would have the opportunity to live and worship freely? As an example: England could take 20,000 Iraqis, Spain and Italy could take 20,000, Japan could take 10,000, South Korea could take 10,000, Denmark could take a few thousand, Canada and the US could take 100,000 each, and so on. Once every volunteer refugee is relocated outside of the country, we could pull out our military completely and let the remaining so-called "insurgents" starve to death. Wouldn't this help to relieve the moral cunundrum that a Barack style pull-out would entail?

I would love to hear someone's feedback on this idea which I have yet to hear from any of America's presidential candidates.

To Salam and Other Insiders Who Understand What's Happening Better Than I Do-

I am curious to hear your thoughts on exactly why the violence against the American soldiers is taking place. It's better we hear this answer from you instead of our completely biased leaders and media.

Is it the American occupation that is driving the fundamentalists? If so, why? Is it because we support countries that many Iraqis detest? Or because the vast majority of Americans are not Muslim and thus our day-to-day activities are considered evil? Maybe because we have a relatively rich and care-free lifestyle? Is it our arrogance? Is it b/c we quickly took out Saddam, a task that should have come about organically from Iraqis themselves? Perhaps it is a combination.

Either way, don't you think that maybe the violence is based on illogical hatred? If the attackers are true Muslims who believe in a God or creator, why would they attempt to destroy His creations. Aren't Americans the creation of Allah too?

This is why, at least from my perspective, America has grown tired of the Iraqi violence subject. We think the war has reached a David Koresh-like stage. The only problem now has to do with the ethics of giving up on the innocent children and the righteous (though ineffective) leaders who want prosperity through sharing and negotiation. We are trying to hand Iraq a branch to avoid drowning in the quicksand. But she is pulling us in too. That's why it's time to mourn your loss and move on.

I am curious to hear your feedback.

The comment that Dan has made is very offensive and racist.

And for the rest who is and was so supportive of this war, well...I agree with David..You wanted a show, you got a show. And in the coming years, if we are still in there, we will get a bigger show..which will cost of the lives of many more.

Sadaam was not buddies with Al Qaeda and we found not weapons...so that blew Bush's reasoning out the water. But, we still stayed. I do believe that if you make a mess, you clean it up..so I am not in favor of leaving Iraq alone. This county did take out a horrible dictator and murderer, but we were too stupid to have a plan afterwards. Any idiot would know you need a clean up plan. It has been proven we did not have one, or at least one that is logical. We were told in so many words we would be loved by the Iraqi people, the oil will pay for the war, we will be in and out. Of course, that is a lie or a serious pipe dream. It is bad when something horrible happens, and we as Americans just did not predict it....it is just amazing when something horrible happens, and we actually had the brains to see it coming...but chose not to. We had the brains, we had the common sense, and we chose not to use it. So...yes...we got our selves a show and got ourselves a mess and got ourselves a world that says "I told you so...America is the world's hypocrite".

I am an average American reader in that I do not understand the logic in destroying your own country and killing your own fellow citizens in order to prove a point.
Like it or not, Bush did have a plan. Defeat the Iraqi military, spare the cities, dispose of the Bathist government, let the people elect a new one, and go home. The world warned him that a 21st. century idea would not work with 20th. century minds. This is the result; killing instead of arguing.
It makes you wonder when will the Third World get it?

This was a well written opinion. Within it, I see a genuine roadmap created by someone who has more on the line than any of us do here!

Salam,
I wish you, your family, and your infant nation the best of all posible futures. There are some things that you and your people are going to have to learn about the United States. Most of the time, when America goes to war, we claim to be fighting for the freedom of oppressed nation or people. In reality we are fighting for our own reasons (see Vietnam War). The war against Saddam was initially supported by a majority of Americans because it was seen, wrongly, as a way to stike back against Osoma Bin Ladin for the 9/11 attacks. The delima that President Bush faced was that fighting terrorists with the U.S. military is like trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer. The damage done to America's pride by the 9/11 attacks seemed to justify a more dramatic response than merely rousting El Quida out of Afghanistan. Sadam's Iraq was a nation state, at least on paper, and an easy target for the sledgehammer. Maybe that explains why so many U.S. troops were pulling down most of Sadam's monuments. They were not celebrating Iraqi democracy or nation building. They were taking revenge for 9/11, or so they felt at the time. The whole issue of weapons of mass destruction was always a sideshow.For most Americans the main goal of the war, revenge for 9/11, has already been accomplished. Building a stable democracy in Iraq will be seen as being your job, not ours. A good barometer for America's support war any war is taxation. If Americans support a tax increase to pay for a war then you know it enjoys wide support. If they demand tax cuts and strict accounting of government spending, then support for the war, and pro-war candidates, is only skin deep. Bush delivered both War and Tax Cuts. The American system cannot support both for long.
As long a the majority of Iraqis believe that America is responsible for your nation's future then the best you can hope for is a McCain victory and a continued U.S. occupation that maintains the current status quo. But if the Democrats do win and withdraw U.S. troops it will be time for the real nation of Iraq to reveal itself. American Founder John Adams once stated that the "Revolution was in the minds of the people". I would suggest to you that a revolution in Iraqi thought, aspiration, and attitude is the most important ingrediant for true Independence. At least creating ideals are not as costly as defending them.

A well-written article, articulating the type of U.S. presence needed in Iraq.

musician, on me. I know even know The hollow to my parents A huge because parents well

Was it worth tens of thousand of families dying?
all for one man, his sons and continue blood lost 5 years later. Think again, its too late now, but better minds should have ruled five years ago.

ZZIM:

"I assume that Barak Obama won't support you and since I care greatly about your (Iraqis') success, I can't support the guy."

Exactly what has Obama said that validates your Assumption? We do not have to remain in Irak for 100 years to support them.

Salam,

Good luck on getting anyone in America to hear you.

We don't react very well to logic over here. After all, we did re-elect Bush after succumbing to rhetoric of fear and emotion, even when knowing that the statements his administration made weren't entirely true.

Powerful article, Salam.

One observation though. You talk about corrupt politicians, but I think you also need to address the corrupt religious leadership. Let's face it, the major problem that exists in Iraq, if not the entire Middle East, are the religious zealots who encite people to do their dirty work.

We in the West speak about "the Muslims" when in effect we should be more specific and address them as Shi'a or Sunni or Sufi or whatever. Maybe then Westerners would get a clearer picture and Muslims wouldn't be so offended by ascribing atrocities to the entire religion of Islam.

When Catholic priests were held accountable for child molestation, the press didn't write about "Christian pastors abuse young boys" rather they put the blame where it belonged, the Catholic Church.

When the Westboro Church from Kansas started intruding at graveside ceremonies, our press didn't write "Christians disrupt interment service", they wrote the Westboro Church did.

Thus the article mades a clear distinction of who is responsible and not upset the entire Christian community.

So maybe if we wrote "Sunni Wahhabist suicide bobmers" instead of "Muslim suicide bobmers" Westerners would get more educated about Islam and Muslims who are not Sunni Wahhabists wouldn't feel outraged.

I know that you (Iraq) will have a long road ahead of you, but if the moderates band together and stand in unison they can make your freedom and democracy work.

The Iranian government is waiting for the United States to pull out. They, of course, are in no hurry since the lives of american soldiers and the american treasure are being spent for which the Iranian government will ultimately benefit. Why keep these expenditures going into this sink hole? One day the americans will withdraw and then the Iranian government will continue to be the power broker behind Iraq.

Your article was fair and balanced, and I appreciate your concern for your people. Only one nit to pick : your comment about Hollywood stereotypes. This is literally the least of your problems, because negative stereotypes float in and out of Hollywood / popular culture, but don't have that much relevance to foreign policy actions. For example, India had the cows, curry and caste stereotype for a long time, but now it's perceived as an up and coming power. But the stereotype only changed as facts on the ground changed. Similarly, Tibet has this exotic and positive perception, but the US is not going to pay more than lip service to the "free Tibet" bumper sticker crowd.

Salam;
Now Saddam is history, lets look forwards & see your country moves under the banner of Moqtada Al Sadr. The only Iraqi official who has the real mantle of legitimacy. The US & the world community would welcome the Shiite led Islamic Republic of Iraq into the community of nations.

According to Dexter Filkins there have been over 900 suicide bombers in Iraq since the invasion by the U.S. - how many of them would it have taken to bring down Saddam? That says it all! Arabs have no concern for the lives of other Arabs - they simply want to die as martyrs to acheive some fantasy described in the Quran.

How would the American colonists have felt if France and Spain had invaded British North America to free them? They would probably have resisted the invasion. French aid was fine after they had already broken with Britain and declared their independence.

David

I have been reading most of your opinions about Iran, Iraq, foreign policy and recently economy (perhaps because of cut backs at Post you have the double job of op-ed on economy as well as Middle East I hope you won’t get the restaurant review on next round of cut backs). But now on this new article “Iran Problem” in my opinion the biggest problem with your article is that contrary to your opinion Iran interventions in Iraq did not actually start in 2003 history tell us that it began more like 555 BC or may be even before that. If you remember thanks to the US they had big intervention with Iraq back in 80’s for 8 years that is recorded as Iran Iraq war of 1980’s if you get that historical fact right the rest of your argument will be irrelevant.
Now we all remember back in early days of this war how much you and the rest of your colleagues in controlled media ( you read it major media) were in favor of this war but since this war isn’t going rosy you are getting cocky and who else to blame but Iran.
If you are not permitted to be honest with your readers the least you can do is to be honest with yourself Iran and Iraq had more then a thousand years relations Iran is next door to Iraq , what are we doing there did you ever dare to bring this question to your readers.
Now since you wanted this show so bad just be a good sport sit and watch the show it just getting more exiting yesterday’s episode in US congress was that our super one and only volunteers military is being paid to shoot our enemies then the irony is that we are also paying the enemy not to shoot at our military. Davis enjoy your comedy drama show.

David

I have been reading most of your opinions about Iran, Iraq, foreign policy and recently economy (perhaps because of cut backs at Post you have the double job of op-ed on economy as well as Middle East I hope you won’t get the restaurant review on next round of cut backs). But now on this new article “Iran Problem” in my opinion the biggest problem with your article is that contrary to your opinion Iran interventions in Iraq did not actually start in 2003 history tell us that it began more like 555 BC or may be even before that. If you remember thanks to the US they had big intervention with Iraq back in 80’s for 8 years that is recorded as Iran Iraq war of 1980’s if you get that historical fact right the rest of your argument will be irrelevant.
Now we all remember back in early days of this war how much you and the rest of your colleagues in controlled media ( you read it major media) were in favor of this war but since this war isn’t going rosy you are getting cocky and who else to blame but Iran.
If you are not permitted to be honest with your readers the least you can do is to be honest with yourself Iran and Iraq had more then a thousand years relations Iran is next door to Iraq , what are we doing there did you ever dare to bring this question to your readers.
Now since you wanted this show so bad just be a good sport sit and watch the show it just getting more exiting yesterday’s episode in US congress was that our super one and only volunteers military is being paid to shoot our enemies then the irony is that we are also paying the enemy not to shoot at our military. Davis enjoy your comedy drama show.

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Great article Salam. I hope that the next President continues to support Iraq's difficult transition to democracy. I assume that Barak Obama won't support you and since I care greatly about your (Iraqis') success, I can't support the guy. Hillary promises to abandon you, but she's lying, so don't worry too much if she gets elected. McCain promises to support you and since he's a pretty honest guy for a politician, you can take that promise to the bank.

Making the difficult decision to remove Saddam from power was quite possibly the best thing Mr. Bush ever did so you have to give him proper respect for that, and you have. I appreciate that, so thanks. I know it's tough and there have been a lot of hard times along the way, but I'm really impressed by the way Iraqis have stuck to it and keep working through their problems. Every time I see a representative of a democratic Iraqi government go before the United Nations or see Iraqi athletes representing their free nation in international competitions, I feel pride in that we helped you guys get there.

I remember seeing the lone Iraqi patriot with a sledgehammer - Is that guy famous in Iraq? He should be - pounding away at the base of that statue of Saddam and thinking "somebody's go to go help that guy." Well some US Marines were standing there and they thought the same thing and went and helped out. It was great. Your article is totally correct Salam, building a free and democratic Iraq is an Iraqi job, first and foremost, we're just there to help out.

Good luck and God bless.

Though just a minor point, your statment that we did not allow the Iraqis to tear down the statue of Sadam is utterly false.

It was already down before we hooked up the hardware and ripped it the rest of the way off the foundation.