With the Democrats controlling Congress these days, it is amazing to hear them trying to tell the president how to run the war in Iraq. Congressman John Murtha is the cut-and-run type who says pull all the American troops out as fast as you can and let the Iraqis handle it. This option would result in civil war between Shiites and Sunnis, a probable invasion by Syria for the Sunnis and another by Iran for the Shiites. The Kurds would set up their own country, prompting Turkey to invade. Iraq would no longer be one country, but would be a terrorist haven.
Sen. Hillary Clinton says to begin the troop withdrawals now, and have all American troops out of Iraq by a date, say Inauguration Day 2009. This would remove a big headache for the next president, who in her mind would be her. This date-setting strategy encourages terrorists to lay low and restart the war when the Americans leave.
Sen. Joe Biden, who is also running for president, recommends getting out of dangerous Baghdad, train Iraqi troops and talk to Iran and Syria. This solution is what already failed and would fail in the future.
President George Bush says he has studied all the new plans and picked the best one, a surge in additional troops to Baghdad, Ramadi and Najaf and keep them there until the terrorists are no longer a threat to Iraq. The president has given this difficult assignment to one of the best generals in our Army, Gen. David Petraeus, the man who wrote the book on counterinsurgency.
Fortunately, the Constitution delegated the role of waging war to the president, not Congress. So Congress should keep their opinions to themselves and support the troops. Many of them give aid and comfort to our enemies by what comes out of their mouths. If Congress really is against winning this war, then they should vote to cut off all funding, which is exactly what a previous Democratic Congress did, causing us to lose the Vietnam War.
I believe President Bush has picked the correct strategy for victory and the right general to accomplish it. Let us give him the resources and the time necessary to win. Millions of Iraqi citizens will be eternally grateful to America if we continue down the tough road to victory and freedom.
Martin A. “Skip” Jessen
Edison