All Posts Tagged With: "Iraq"

Thanks to Erik for this post, which he sent around to many of the newspapers for publication. Also, thanks to my brother, Eric Mills (generalmills211@yahoo.com), for the aesthetic changes to Urbanagora that you see now. He’s great with this kind of stuff, so if you need help manipulating your blog’s html or with designing header images on Photoshop try asking him for help, he’s just 15 years old, so he won’t charge you :)

It seems that the gap between public sentiment and mainstream debate grows wider every day. This Wednesday the Bush Administration outlined a plan to escalate the violence in Iraq which has, by the CIA’s own admission, bolstered support in the Middle East for Islamic Fundamentalism and weakened US security. The “alternative” offered by Democrats (who owe their newfound power to a public solidly opposed to the war) is at its core woefully similar; blaming current problems on the people of Iraq, who must not want, appreciate or be willing to fight for democracy or security. If I were to punch my neighbor in the face, it would be absurd for me to write off his bloody nose as his own fault, and yet this seems to be exactly what the Democrats are prepared to do—an easy escape, perhaps, but not a lasting solution.

Many of the proposals which have been offered by the peace movement would lay the groundwork for a future reconciliation with the Muslim world (one such proposal recently supplied by Helena Cobban and readily available online), but all share a number of common themes: A sincere apology for the damage wreaked by our war, recognition of Iraq’s sovereignty and control of its own resources and an appeal for international cooperation in repairing the country’s decimated infrastructure—all set to a definite timetable for troop withdrawal.

Some might argue that such a policy would be doomed by its idealism; the same, I believe, could be said of the proposal to escalate the violence which plunged Iraq into chaos in the first place, one which attempts to equate “pacification” with peace. The difference between the two, of course, is that the Bush administration’s “troop surge” plan has received such wide attention from the media, politicians and pundits that we have accepted it as a rational option rather than a vain and foolish attempt to defeat an angry beehive with heavier boxing gloves. In the wake of our government’s failure to offer a realistic solution to the Iraq crisis, the time has come for us to investigate options outside the narrow spectrum of mainstream political debate and to reflect amongst ourselves on their possible outcomes: for our credibility and dignity, for international stability and security, and for justice.

~By Erik