Have Your Say on Iraq - Here's one of my many "says"

Dr. David Sanders, candidate for the office of U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District of the State of Indiana.

Dr. David Sander's campaign website offers viewers an opportunity to "Have Your Say on Iraq. He poses the questions: What is the United States role in Iraq? What can be done to improve the deteriorating situation in Iraq?

Below are my thoughts; thoughts you may or may not share.
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Winston Churchill made these statements. Like him or not there is great truth in them.

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.” - At least in the five years -

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

“The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ...and I, Duane Short, say "confront... but don't kill them."

In the middle quote Churchill, posthumously, implies we move on... as in, "get the hell out of Iraq."

If we could stay and produce positive outcomes we should stay... but we cannot because we went in illegally and under false pretenses. During our occupation we have made many strategic errors, operational blunders (e.g., Abu Ghraib), and have committed a litany of malfeasances. For example, nine BILLION dollars intended to help Iraqis is gone, utterly without a trace. I could go on but will not, here.

In the end we must admit before we can correct this administration's mistakes and crimes. Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike must share blame as their votes on Iraq issues warrant. We cannot correct course by keeping the same captains at the wheel that took us so terribly off course into such perilous seas of discontent.

Nothing we do will, at this point, will be pretty but in the old days this was referred to as paying for our sins. Unfortunately, innocent Iraqis will pay as well. Bush supporters can keep calling Bush's actions anything they want but there is no worse error than to attempt to cover past sins. We, as a nation, must face our sins, even those of us who (unsuccessfully) fought long and hard to prevent Bush's invasion of Iraq.

The sooner we leave, the sooner the smoke and fog of war will clear. Only then will Iraqis begin to complete their march through and out of their seemingly unending hell.

We can help Iraqis economically and via many humanitarian forms of benevolence, but not from the end of a gun barrel or from high-flying jets dropping so-called smart bombs. Nor can we impose our form of Democracy on them. Democracy of any form can only be self-willed, self-fashioned, and self-imposed. The Bush administration is seeking to impose its narrow political will on the new Iraq. Nothing could be less effective and less smart.