Thoughts on Iraq

Having "been there and done that" I feel like my opinion is entitled to at least a little weight. My observation is that the bulk of Iraqis are glad we got rid of Saddam's regime, regardless how we got there. They, like us, are weary of the continued violence and unrest. Yet already in Iraq we have more than enough manpower, ordnance and equipment to lay waste to the whole country if we wanted to. Throwing more bodies at the problem, a solution all too often urged by military officers, will not fix it.

On the other hand, a massive withdrawal may not yet be appropriate either. Iran could move right in and assist Iraq's Shiite majority in the creation of yet another antagonistic Islamic state, committing genocide, ruling the region with impunity, eventually nuking Israel every other weekend, bribing U.N. officials in "oil for food" programs, etc.

It would be nice if we could get all the bad guys rounded up for a massive showdown. Then we'd see who the real warriors are, if there be any, rather than the cowards who are always planting roadside bombs by night and blowing themselves up in crowds of civilians by day. First we need to find out who and where they are.

Much more human intelligence is needed to identify bad guys, and this has to come from the Iraqis themselves. They are the ones who've grown up there, familiar with the neighborhoods, the people, the language, what the Imams are preaching, who's in what terrorist network, and they are the one's whose future is most at stake. If they really want a democracy then they need to start acting like it, not by merely turning out to vote, but by seriously cooperating with both American and Iraqi military efforts to gather intelligence.