"To Win the Peace, We Must 'Lose' the War"

[laura888]

Editorial piece by John Brady Kiesling, who spent 20 years in the U.S. Foreign Service before resigning in protest on the eve of the war in Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10160-2004May8.html

<snip>
"Is this situation hopeless? Not quite. The uprising of radical Shiite Moqtada Sadr and his militia, an uprising that briefly unified Sunni and Shiite insurgencies in opposition to the United States, points the way forward. Our goal is a legitimate Iraqi state. Resistance to the United States turned Sadr from a scruffy mediocrity into a national figure. The struggle against foreign occupation can generate the legitimacy needed to hold Iraq together. A leader who drives the Americans out can claim the loyalty of enough of the Iraqi people to govern Iraq by methods more acceptable than Saddam Hussein's.
</snip>

The man presents a valid exit strategy...the best I've heard so far...

[malatesta1137]

1. I like it.

Bush losing the war, that would be the sweetest thing. Saddam beat Bush I in the polls and will beat BUsh II as well.

[laura888]

3. Nothing sweet about it. Just necessary.

If you read the piece, he's asking "how do we help create a legitimate Iraqi state?" He offers a way to accomplish this goal.

isn't this what we're there for?

If we're not there for that, what are we there for?

[Soup Bean]

5. It's not just Bush that loses the damn war.

We ALL do. That's why it's important to never, ever elect anyone like Bush, Cheney or Wolfowitz. They drag us all down with them. It's a very, very sad situation.

Vote these "people" out this year. The survival of the world depends on it. I want my country back, too.

[Political_Junkie]

2. I've heard from some of the Iraqi bloggers

that it has become as dangerous in Iraq to talk bad about Sadr as it once was to talk about Saddam.

[laura888]

4. so.... we get rid of Sadr, too? And then....??? n/t

[Political_Junkie]

6. I'm not saying we get rid of anybody.

It's not our job to decide what kind of government the Iraqi people have or who they pick for their leader. I'm just pointing out that some Iraqis wouldn't think it much of an improvement.