Moving On In America

07/13/2007

Paul Munnis


With yesterday’s concession that the Iraqi Government has been deficit in making progress, plus the universal admission that it will take years to accomplish the Bush surge goals in Iraq, we now concede it is time to move-on from our Iraq misadventure and enter the last phases of U.S. military involvement.

At a continued cost of $12 Billion per month the, war has become far too expensive to continue. Our military is decimated, in need of significant rebuilding, suffering from a lack of overcommitted soldiers, and unable to meet our military goals without assistance from Iraqi’s forces that are paralyzed with insecurity and suffering from war fatigue.

The Iraqi government itself seems to have thrown in the towel advising its citizens to take up arms and that they can no longer provide a semblance of security. From the green zone to the outlaying sectors of Northern Iraq, there is a lack of peace and tranquility as Civil War rages and Americans are caught up in several simultaneous conflicts of warring tribes, battling religious groups, fighting insurgents bent on jihad, and lawlessness all across the land. Iraq’s neighbors are also becoming problematic.

Some 2 million Iraqi refugees have left the nation. Another large group is expected to soon leave as America winds down the war. Contractors must leave Iraq, U.S. sympathizers must be given refuge, and our military must soon depart the desert sands and return for home to rebuild a military in need of solutions to taming guerilla war.

It’s not a done-deal quite yet; our Senate must still support troop withdrawal, but most concede that the handwriting is on the wall and admit that it is just a matter of time before the Senate agrees with the need for total troop withdrawal. Things could happen much faster than the timetables being discussed in U.S. political circles as a vacuum is being created and there will be a rush to fill it. Also we have 160,000 soldiers surrounded by millions of armed people who are not sympathetic to America.

Thus we enter a phase where three things become of paramount importance to America. The first is quality military planning and execution of extraction efforts from Iraq and Afghanistan. Going hand in hand with that is quality diplomacy that provides needed agreements for our military to succeed at controlled egress. Finally, we must rebuild our economy that has been so tattered and torn during the last seven years of the Bush Administration’s influence. We have huge debts, trade issues long neglected, and a decaying infrastructure across our land to face in managing our future.

As our troops come home and are welcomed, as our military releases many to re-enter our economy, as the remainder go into garrison duty and are weeded out, our nation will turn its attention back to many long delayed matters ranging from education to health care to veterans benefits.

There is an election coming up now and the distraction of Iraq should be less while we chart a vision for the future that we seek. Our nation should become more focused as we decide what candidates are right for setting domestic and foreign policy and for leading us to real achievement. This is a time for clear vision, realistic goal-setting, and forging new relationships.

We have turned the corner of the dark years of the Bush Administration and we can begin to craft a better future for ourselves.

Let’s set the partisanship created by this war aside, form a great vision for our future, and focus the very best talent that we have in America on achieving our destiny.