Sunday, November 20, 2005

On a witdrawl from Iraq

Matt at Left in the West has been in suport of Murtha, and has left some intelligent comments here. I left one at his site and as I was writing it, I came to the awareness of what our problem is. We are Americans trying to solve an Iraqi problem.
As Americans, we tend to want to solve the problem as quickly and expeditiously as possible. My experience in the Middle East has led me to believe that they do not follow the same way of thinking as we do. Not to say better or worse, just different. It seemd to me that so much of problem solving revolved around relatives, tribes, old grudges, protocol, tradition, etc. Everything but what we thought was the problem. I still do not think that their system worked, but maybe it was because I lacked the perspective of 4000 years.
But the thing that came to mind was about a future withdrawl from Iraq. Why doesn't the Iraqi government set the withdrawl? They are the ones who after December 15th will be in full control of their country. Let them decide how and when we are to leave. If problems arise, they can change the schedule. If things go better than expected, we can get out even earlier.
Seems to me to be one of those "Win - Win" situations. But then, what do I know, I am just an American trying to solve a problem.

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