We can't walk away from this mess in Mesopotamia

Submitted by Chris (United States), Mar 1, 2006 at 11:19

The tyranny in Iraq that we need to destroy is not so much the person of Saddam Hussein as it is the totalitarian rule of a Bathist (Sunni) minority over the rest of the Iraqis. We have upset the long-standing pecking order, and a finding new balance is obstructed by anger over loss of power on one hand and a thirst for revenge on the other. While we can't erase ethnic and tribal ties, a strong secular government would promote nationalism over sectarianism. This would help dissipate the drive toward civil war.

Perhaps the United States' biggest mistake was bringing in outside contractors rather than investing money in Iraqi businesses and economic welfare. For all the money we have spent on the Iraq war we could have given every family a car and a new house. With an economic state in the country, they would have quickly routed the insurgents and gotten along with their lives.

Still, we can't walk away from this mess. We now own it, and we must endure the chaos until all parties tire of the wanton destruction and waste of natural and human resources.

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