Bring Them Home

With a backdrop of over 200 deaths in the last 48 hours,
the NY Times finally catches up to the American public and
says it's time to leave Iraq.

While Mr. Bush scorns deadlines, he kept
promising breakthroughs — after elections, after
a constitution, after sending in thousands more
troops. But those milestones came and went
without any progress toward a stable, democratic
Iraq or a path for withdrawal. It is frighteningly
clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as
long as he is president and dump the mess on his
successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.

The political leaders Washington has backed are
incapable of putting national interests ahead of
sectarian score settling. The security forces
Washington has trained behave more like
partisan militias. Additional military forces
poured into the Baghdad region have failed to
change anything.

Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of
American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping
the strength of the nation’s alliances and its
military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from
the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It
is an increasing burden on American taxpayers,
and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise
application of American power and principles.

A majority of Americans reached these
conclusions months ago. Even in politically
polarized Washington, positions on the war no
longer divide entirely on party lines. When
Congress returns this week, extricating American
troops from the war should be at the top of its
agenda.