Bury Me Broken

My Letter to the Orlando Sentinel - Room for Flexibility

Room for Flexibility

The biggest gamble in staying the course is that if there are failures in the steps taken toward a free Iraq, the dire consequences will be American lives, Iraqi lives and a country already said to be a haven and training ground for terrorists.Tuesday night, the president delivered an excellent message.

For the first time, this Democrat truly got the message that when Iraq is a stable democracy, the entire region will be affected for the better.I have but one problem. We have heard from the mouths of military officers in Iraq that they don't have enough troops to maintain territory that was recently liberated.

The president said that more troops would undermine the strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead and would suggest that we intend to stay forever. I don't believe that.

Building permanent military structures suggests that we are intending to stay forever far more than sending additional troops to quell the violence. Iraqis would be happy to see additional troops -- those who are happy that we have the troops there presently as they foment democracy.

Staying the course seems both resolute and inflexible. The situation in Iraq is the exact opposite of inflexibility; it requires contingency upon contingency, which staying the course does not address.

Darryl McClain
Orlando

posted by niteskolar @ 12:29 PM