The ABCs of Getting out of Iraq Responsibly

Posted by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 9:00 AM on April 8, 2008.

Since Cokie Roberts brought it up, I've always wondered what, exactly, there is for us to "win" in Iraq. Seriously-what is our national Iraq prize? It is not even clear to me what those people who cheerlead for the war are seeking for us to win. I know the permanent bases in southern Iraq serve numerous purposes for the architects of the war (influence over southern oil fields, a forward position against Iraq, redeploying out of Saudi Arabia, control over a puppet Iraqi government), and were actually listed as the rationale for war in a September 2000 Bush campaign document. However, no one ever publicly defends the war on those grounds.

Is our national prize for "winning" the Iraq war a free and stable Iraq? Really? That's what we have to gain from all this? That is why we severely damaged our economy, our reputation in the world, why 5% of all Iraqis are dead and another 16% are refugees, and why over 5,000 Americas are dead? There aren't many Americans who think that this is worth that. When CBS and CNN polled that exact question in March, only 29% and 36% of the country thought the costs of the war were worth the results so far.

It is all well and good to say that the American people want to win. After all, in general, people want to win things, at least as opposed to losing things. However, no one wants to win regardless of the cost, and Americans decided a long time ago that whatever "victory" in Iraq might look like, it was not been worth what has happened there. When people decide that "victory" isn't worth the cost, they want a way to end the entire project, and that is what the Responsible Plan offers.