October 18, 2007

The Moral Dilemma of Leaving Iraq

It started as Bush's war, but we all own it now—and it's time we took a hard look at what that means. Conversations with more than 50 experts, from General Petraeus' advisers to antiwar activists

1. Editors' Introduction: You Break It, You Buy It

2. Out Now, Ask Questions Later?: Six Challenges for Antiwar Activists

The Next President's Problem

3. Exiting Iraq: Now or Never?

4. The Logistics of Moving the Military Out of Iraq

5. Four Post-Occupation Scenarios

Iraq's Sectarian Breakdown

6. Civil War: Inevitable or Not?

7. The Coming Iraqi Exodus

8. Why the U.S. May Not Leave Iraq

9. Al Qaeda in Iraq: How Dangerous Is It?

Miracle in Ramadi?

10. Damned if We Do: America's Moral Obligations

How the War Has Affected a Typical Iraqi Family

11. A Glossary of Iraq Lingo

12. Charts and Maps

13. Interviews

Interviews:

Nadje al-Ali, senior lecturer in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter

Tariq al-Hashimi, deputy prime minister of Iraq

Colonel Gary Anderson (USMC, retired), Pentagon consultant

Andrew Bacevich, author, The New American Militarism

Medea Benjamin, Code Pink

Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser

Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice

General Wesley Clark (retired), former supreme allied commander, Europe

Juan Cole, professor of Middle East history, University of Michigan

Carl Conetta, Project on Defense Alternatives

Anthony Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Colonel William Darley, editor in chief, Military Review

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)

Thomas Donnelly, American Enterprise Institute

James Dunnigan, military strategist

Maj. General Paul Eaton, head of training for Iraqi security forces 2003-2004

Bill Frelick, Human Rights Watch

Peter Galbraith, adviser to the Iraqi Kurdish government

Colonel T.X. Hammes (USMC, retired), counterinsurgency expert

Colonel Paul Hughes (retired), former director, Strategic Policy Office, Coalition Provisional Authority

Kirk Johnson, former USAID reconstruction coordinator in Iraq

Colin Kahl, Center for a New American Security

Brian Katulis, senior fellow, Center for American Progress

Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Logistics

Colonel W. Patrick Lang, U.S. Military Intelligence (retired)

Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun

Edward Luttwak, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Colonel Douglas Macgregor (retired), military analyst

Kevin Martin, Peace Action

George McGovern, coauthor, Out of Iraq

Colonel H.R. McMaster, adviser to General David Petraeus

James Miller, senior vice president and director of studies, Center for a New American Security

Major Daniel Morgan, School of Advanced Military Studies

Dr. Williamson Murray, professor emeritus of history at Ohio State University

Lt. Colonel John Nagl, collaborator with General David Petraeus on the Army counterinsurgency field manual

Maj. General William Nash (retired), Council on Foreign Relations

Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution

Lt. General William Pagonis, Gulf War logistics chief

John Pike, GlobalSecurity.org

Paul Pillar, former top CIA official

Barry Posen, M.I.T. Security Studies Program

Zeinab Salbi, founder, Women for Women International

Representative Ike Skelton (D-Mo.)

Wayne White, adjunct scholar with the Middle East Institute

Judith Yaphe, National Defense University

Kristele Younes, Refugees International

General Anthony Zinni (usmc, retired), former centcom commander

Reporting: In Mother Jones' Washington, D.C., bureau: Nick Baumann, Bruce Falconer, Laura Rozen, Daniel Schulman, and Jonathan Stein; in Mother Jones' San Francisco office: Kiera Butler, Leigh Ferrara, Elizabeth Gettelman, Josh Harkinson, Neha Inamdar, Nicole McClelland, Celia Perry, Rafael Valero, and Daniel Widome. Edited by Dave Gilson.

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Comments:

democrats better wake up and win lose or draw get this war over with and do it now. the american people want it. what the heck are they [deleted] footin around about...........get our boys and girls home and quit make big bucks for bush, cheney, halliburton, ray hunt and all the rest of those bums at the expense of out american boys and girls

Posted by:vol d. kesterOctober 19, 2007 12:55:31 PMRespond ^

Great article with comprehensive sections addressing most of the logistical and political challenges we will encounter. However I think one additional part should have been a section addressing the possible penalties to be levied upon those who caused this outrage which has cost over 1,000,000 lives, hundreds of billions of $$$, and ruined our standing in the world.

Posted by:Mike YanasakOctober 19, 2007 5:32:41 PMRespond ^

The Washington Spectator (9/17/07) says logistics alone in Iraq are costing us $300 million a DAY. Each soldier uses $840 of fuel a day! Meanwhile our dollar has shrunken to 57 cents and we are falling apart. We can no longer delay, GET OUT NOW !

Posted by:Eleanor LindwayOctober 19, 2007 5:54:17 PMRespond ^

ALOHA, PULL THE TROOPS OUT NOW. WHAT WE WOULD BE LEAVING IS WHAT THE TOXIC TURD CREATED...A CIVIL WAR. IT IS NOT THE FUNCTION OF THE MITITARY TO RESOLVE CIVIL WARS. WE PULLED OUT OF VIETNAM THEY HAD THEIR CLEANSING AND NOW THEY ARE OUR PARTNERS. THE SAME WOULD HAPPEN WITH IRAQ THEY WILL SETTLE THIER DIFFERENCES AND WE WILL BUY THEIR OIL. RATHER THAN STEAL IT LIKE BUSH/CHENEY HAD PLANNED. EDWIN DOHERTY

Posted by:EDWIN DOHERTYOctober 19, 2007 8:45:37 PMRespond ^

Bull-loney. It is not, never was, and neer will be 'my' war. It is the exclusive prpoerty of Pres. Chicanery, puppet Pres. Duh, and their zombie followers and enablers (HeadRush Pilljar, Faux Noise Channel, Newswacks.com, etc.). As far as continuing or ending the war, let the Republcons have their war until the next election. In the meantime, the more of their voters that get sent over to Iraq and blown to bits, the more it improves the gene pool over here.

Posted by:DungaOctober 22, 2007 1:58:00 PMRespond ^

In the intro to OUT OF IRAQ NOW?HOW, the editors state theyput the 'questions' to 5 dozen people and would post a list of those who refused to respond. Damned if I can find the list. Where is it?

Posted by:Bill ShirleyOctober 23, 2007 4:23:00 AMRespond ^

The argument: “just because you weren't in favor of going in doesn't mean you're not responsible for what happens when we pull out.” – is weak. To use an example to see how weak. Just because you did not want me to kill your mother doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for her murder. I know, you fought with me after I broke into your home and tried to get the weapon from my hand but I was much stronger, knocked you out, and then stabbed your mother to death. Well, you’re responsible too. I did everything I could to see the war did not begin. I wrote letters, argued and voted. And still the war happened. I am not responsible. The responsibility lies, not only with Bush and Cheney, but those who voted for them, those in the media who turned a blind eye to the Administration’s lies. So-called reasonable people like Thomas Friedman, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael O'Hanlon who helped spread the lies and fear. And the political class who even now doesn’t have the courage to impeach Bush and Cheney for their crimes. The argument that I owe the Iraqi people something is false since I did everything I could to prevent the war. The US should pull out as soon as possible. The Iraqi people are smart and brave enough to figure out their own problems. To believe otherwise is a twist on ‘white man’s burden.’ What America needs to do is to make sure something like it never happens again. That means holding those who broke into Iraq using falsehoods responsible. That means impeaching Bush and Cheney. The next is to start a fund to help the Iraqis repair their country with an influx of cash. All those who helped create this mess are morally obliged to contribute.

Posted by:Tom PaineNovember 10, 2007 5:34:12 AMRespond ^

ha...stupid [deleted]ing gay-ass democraps always get it wrong. America is winning in Iraq..and the GOP will win again in 2008. go gnash your teeth, traitors.

Posted by:TEXNovember 10, 2007 1:08:18 PMRespond ^

America is winning what in Iraq?

Posted by:Kerry CanfieldNovember 11, 2007 1:38:56 AMRespond ^


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