So, the Democrats in Congress are sending a war spending bill to President Bush that he has repeatedly vowed to veto. It seems it’s politics as usual from both sides, with our young servicemen and servicewomen caught in the crossfire.
The issue of when to withdraw from Iraq is a difficult one for me. I’m one of the many Americans who believed from the very beginning it was unwise to rush to war. I’ve also been exasperated with the Bush administration’s continuously inept execution of the war. All of this, and I still can’t bring myself to embrace the Democrats’ withdrawal plans.
Like everyone else, I don’t want to see more American blood spilled in a war I didn’t condone; but it’s hard to stomach the prospect of an Iraq fully engulfed in chaos and infested with al-Qaida terrorists. What should we do? Should we just wait and hope the next president comes up with a solution to Bush’s mistakes? Of course not.
It would help to have constructive debate without political egos getting in the way. The president should reach out to the Democratic majority, and likewise, they should resist the urge to politicize the issue. They all need to stop making decisions on Iraq with one eye set on the next election. Unfortunately, this is Washington, and that ain’t likely to happen.
