The ever reliable Jonah Goldberg presents "stay the course" and "cut and run" as a false dichotomy. Faced with increasing desire at home to escape the mess of Iraq, and also with the likely and potential consequences of doing so, letting the Iraqis decide our fate there seems a reasonable third alternative.
According to the conventional script, if I'm not saying "bug out" of Iraq, I'm supposed to say "stay the course." But there's a third option, and, funnily enough, I found it in an old column of mine. I think we should ask the Iraqis to vote on whether U.S. troops should stay.
Polling suggests that they want us to go. But polling absent consequences is a form of protest. With accountability, minds may change and appreciation for the U.S. presence might grow.
If Iraqis voted "stay," we'd have a mandate to do what's necessary to win, and our ideals would be reaffirmed. If they voted "go," our values would also be reaffirmed, and we could leave with honor. And pretty much everyone would have to accept democracy as the only legitimate expression of national will.
1 comment:
What better way to clarify things.
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