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Getting out of Iraq

8 January 2006, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Zeenat Z. Syed Atlanta, US
8 January 2006, 18:00 PM
Anyone reading Fareed Zakaria's article "Panic Is Not the Solution" can clearly see that he talks about what needs to be done to ensure that the US military leaves Iraq in a better state than it is in today. Mr. Ehsan Mallik wrote about the issues surrounding the US involvement in Iraq and how it was illegal and incorrect and that Mr. Zakaria is confusing the readers and is confused about the entire issue. In actuality there is no confusion. In the article Fareed Zakaria clearly affirms that issues surrounding the invasion are there and everyone is aware of that but he also states that those are in the past and in no way will change the future unless something is done at present.

Yes, 180 countries in the United Nations opposed the US decision to get into Iraq but since then many of these countries have also pledged support in one form or another. The deed was done. No WMD was found and no one is covering or denying that. This has become a broken record and no matter how much we talk about it the present circumstances do not and will not change.

At this time if Mr. Mallik and others like him think that the clear choice in this conflict is for the US to get out of Iraq then they are simply consigning an entire nation to a fate worse then they have already been dealt. The worst-case scenario is that the US military can drop everything in Iraq and simply leave the country. This will leave a country in a state of anarchy with no particular group or people clearly able to take control, without proper infrastructure, with religious issues between the Sunni and Shiite sects alive and worse a haven for terrorism. I think it is obvious now that terrorism is out there and it has to be dealt with. The present situation in Bangladesh is proof enough that we have a cancer in our society and it needs to be fought. Instead of constantly trying to beat down the US for what they have done in the past I think it is our responsibility as members of the world to actually help in establishing a method that leaves Iraq and the Iraqi people in a better situation than they are in today.

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The gist of Fareed Zakaria's article is that the US military stationed in Iraq over the last few years have more or less maintained the status quo within the country. The strategy and the commands given to them from the White House were not geared towards a successful exit strategy for the US i.e. the Iraqi people would be left in a better situation than they are in now and when they were under Saddam Hussein's regime. He also stated that the strategies being formulated currently will result in improvements and this needs to be continued so that more and more control is slowly given over to the Iraqi soldiers and the people. The dysfunction among the elected politicians needs to be ironed out and with good strategic initiatives the US can finally exit.