AFTER THE SPEECH

Here is a letter I sent to the editor of The Oregonian on 1/12/07: "Regarding Iraq, Debra
Saunders is right about one thing, it can get worse! And probably will, whether we go or stay.
It's a deteriorating situation, as the I. S. G. reported, and will remain so, for reasons laid out by David Brooks, among others.

I am also in agreement with Leonard Pitts: ". . . it still strikes me as wrong, for reasons both moral and pragmatic, to come in, blow up those people's country, then walk away and leave them in the rubble." So Leonard, we stay and keep making more rubble? Is that a good
idea?

David Brooks is to be applauded also for pointing out the difference between what Mr. Maliki has actually agreed to, and what Mr. Bush says Maliki will do. In Arab culture, one doesn't
openly disagree with the boss. One politely agrees, then goes and does what one wants anyway.
What Mr. Maliki wants is to stay in power with the help of the Shiite militias. So he is not going to be fighting them, or helping the Americans fight them. Just a few weeks ago, he asked us to lower our profile in Iraq. Bush is doing the opposite of what was asked. Maliki doesn't want
U. S. troops "embedded" (supervising) his troops. It humiliates Arab troops, and they drag their feet or go AWOL, taking their weapons with them and selling them on the black market.
It is probably neither within Maliki's power or his intent to do most of the things Bush is demanding of him.

One of the dangers of fighting religious fanatics is that we may become like them: fanatics facing contrary facts simply close their minds and redouble their efforts. Mr. Bush is "listening" to
contrary views without hearing them. His ears are as closed as his mind. He listens to his
"heaveny father" and some TV preachers, but ignores the counsel of his earthly father's closest friends and advisors.

As the ancient Greeks said, "when the gods war, men have to die." That's because, as the Aztecs knew, the gods require human sacrifice. Our saber rattling at Iran and Syria is convincing more and more of the Muslim world that, as the Islamists have long claimed, we are out to destroy Islam. That doesn't have to be true to be believed. But it strengthens the most
extreme people in those countries.

Maureen Dowd wrote in the 1/13/07 N. Y. Times that: "I feel good about the new war with Iran. How can you not have confidence in the crackerjack team that brought you Operation
Iraqi Freedom, which foundered and led to Operation Together Forward, which stumbled and led to Operation Together Forward II, which collapsed and was replaced by The New Way
Forward, the Surge now being launched even though nobody's togther and everything's going
backward? I say , bring it on. If a pre-emptive war in Iraq doesn't work, why not try a pre-emptive war on Iran in Iraq?"

What is my solution? Stay tuned. I'll turn to that next time, I hope!

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net