Iraq

As things remain chaotic in Iraq, some democrats like rep. Murtha and Dicks have raised the possibility of a gradual withdrawal. The number of people who are willing to criticize the Iraq war has increased dramatically and the majority of the country now thinks that the war was a mistake. So, what should be the next move? Pull out as soon as possible or stay the course as the administration and some democrats still advocate? Is there another way that may work best for our interests?

How about openly acknowledging that getting into Iraq was a huge error? That would be obviously a hard thing to do, but it may be in our best interests. Why? For a few reasons:

1. It's the truth.

2. It will reassure the Europeans and the rest of the western allies that we are not as crazy as they originally thought and will restore some confidence in our judgement.

3. Importantly, it may help to convince some of them to play a role in the creation of a multiethnic force (controlled by the United Nations) to stay in the country for some time immediately after our withdrawal.

Of course one can argue that such an acknowledgement will be simply embarassing and will not work. But what alternative is better? We either leave as soon as possible or we stay. And if we stay we will leave later after more people die.

There is simply no good solution. However, if the administration acknowledges their huge error in judgement, it may make our exit from Iraq less painful. In fact, it may be be the first good thing Bush did for the country.