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Iraq's 'Ramadan Offensive' |
| Section: CURRENT ISSUES / WORLD VIEWS |
| Author: |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2004 |
| Size: 2,644 Words, 16,856 Characters |
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Staying (not exit) plan needed
UNITED STATES--Between tonight and tomorrow, it's likely that the death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq will have risen again. On May 1, President Bush announced the end of major combat. Yet it seems as though the enemy has only begun to fight since then. From May 1 through [Nov. 4], 238 American troops had died, 137 of them in combat. That's more than the U.S. death toll from fighting during the war.
In just the first four days of November, 23 U.S. soldiers were killed, including 15 on a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter shot down while taking them from Iraq for rest furloughs or emergency leaves. In the face of the escalating toll, President Bush has remained resolute. "The enemy in Iraq believes America will run. ... America will never run," he said [Nov. 3].
The President is right that America can't just walk away. Congress showed some resolve by giving final approval for the $87.5 billion he wanted for U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, to stem growing public concern at home, the President needs to convince Americans of the importance of following through in Iraq. He can begin to do that by making necessary adjustments to gain stability in Iraq, particularly in the volatile Sunni Triangle and Baghdad.
As painful as it may be for families, more U.S. troops are needed. The 135,000 soldiers there are nearly 200,000 short of what some experts had predicted would be necessary. An early U.S. pullout, as some Democrats suggest, would destroy the beginnings of freedom and democracy--and there are beginnings in Iraq's north and south--that just months ago trembled under the cruel Saddam Hussein.
A pullout would co...
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... that people will turn against the Americans as the only concrete force responsible for the situation in Iraq. The fundamental problem, however, is that the West is torn apart internally. The shortsightedness of some European states makes their leaders more interested in weakening the U.S. than overcoming the real threat, which is not reduced only to Iraq.
--Rzeczpospolita
October 28, 2003
(1,716 of 16,856 characters)
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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