No New Troops for Iraq

“A persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary. “

That is the Merriam Webster Dictionary definition of a delusion.If you substitute the word “political” for “psychotic”, the definition applies precisely to President Bush’s argument that sending 20,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq will enable the U.S, to achieve victory in Iraq.

That is a delusion for these reasons:

1. The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has stated clearly that he wants U.S. troop strength reduced rather than increased.

2. Maliki is a Shiite and one of his main supporters, Muqtada al-Sadr. controls the Mehdi army which has been a leader in the sectarian violence which has killed thousands and devastated the country.

3. Maliki and other leading Shiite leaders are never going to support the U.S. goal of providing equal treatment to the Sunni minority in Iraq. That’s because the Shiites will not forget their prolonged brutal treatment under the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein.

4. The Iraqi Shiites are receiving financial and military aid from the neighboring country of Iran which will use any feasible means to drive the U.S. forces from Iraq.

5. Iran, with a population of 70 million dominated by Shiites, is far larger than Iraq and has been antagonistic to the U.S. It has every reason to continue to support Iraq Shiite leaders and oppose U.S. policies with every means at its disposal.

6. Most of the leading U.S. generals --- on duty or retired --- have opposed sending additional troops and have supported a phased withdrawal.

7. President Bush had to search hard to find a new leader --- Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus --- who was willing to lead U.S. troops under the new policy.

8. Polls show seventy per cent of the American people oppose sending new troops and favor a phased withdrawal.

9. The election of Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate resulted primarily from public contempt for the Bush Administration’s conduct of the war.

10. The Bush administration rejected the recommendations of a bipartisan commission of respected present and past leaders who proposed a vastly different way to deal with the conflict in Iraq.

11. The U.S. military does not have the human resources to deal with a failing war in Iraq, a losing war in Afghanistan and all of the potential threats from Iran, from international terrorists and the strife-torn Middle East.

12. Experience has demonstrated that military force alone cannot defeat guerrillas, insurgents, suicide bombers and other terrorists motivated by religious hatred.

13. The war in Iraq has inflamed public anger against America in the Middle East and throughout the world.

14. The toll of 3,000 deaths in Iraq has fallen solely on volunteers in the regular military forces, the National Guard and the reserves. Citizens at large have had to make no sacrifice of that kind. A very small section of the population is accepting the full burden. In addition to the thousand who have died in action, many thousands have been wounded or maimed for life. Some troops have been assigned to duty in Iraq two or three times. It would be grossly unfair to send even more troops from this narrow sector of the nation’s population.

Congress has every obligation to oppose funding for additional 20,000 troops in Iraq and to call for a phased withdrawal of troops beginning this year.

It is time to follow the judgment of 70 percent of the American people and to reject the incompetent and dishonest leadership that has caused our national crisis.