Iraq: Where do we go from here?

Re “Whose war is it?” editorial, Dec. 3

It is becoming fashionable to blame the Iraqis for not being committed to saving their own country. Before rationalizing this catastrophic American failure, let’s review. We preemptively invaded a sovereign nation without provocation; we dismantled their entire governmental and security infrastructure, and we unleashed the fury of long-standing sectarian hatred, among many other blunders. And now we’re mad at them for not fixing it?

Whose war is it? It’s George W. Bush’s war, and like everything he has touched throughout his life, it will turn out badly. He opened Pandora’s box when the first shot was fired. After four years of unparalleled incompetence, it is cruel to expect the Iraqis to close the lid.

M.J. JOHNSON

San Luis Obispo

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Your cogent analysis of how we got into the mess in Iraq is accompanied by garbled advice on what we should do now. I believe that as long as we are there, both sides will consider us the enemy.

Let Iraqis make a democratic decision about when we should leave, and then we should do as they wish. If they are intent on engaging in civil war, and even if they conclude that being ruled by a dictator is the only possible solution right now, there is nothing we can do about it. We must take care of our own needs because if we become a crippled nation, we will be of little benefit to the world. Iraq is not Al Qaeda, which we must confront elsewhere and in other ways.

LEROY MILLER

West Hills

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Iraq is fast reaching the inevitable point of no return. The country is not being run by the so-called Iraqi government or by the Americans but by militias. They’ve been preparing, and now, sensing the withdrawal of American troops, they are positioning themselves for an all-out civil war. Iraq will never be one country as it once was. As soon as the Americans leave, intense and historical resentment will unleash major bloodshed, and only after that will the new boundaries be drawn and three autonomous regions emerge: Shiite, Sunni and Kurd. Lesson learned: President Bush, please give up imposing your Westernized, Christianity-based vision of democracy in the Middle East, and don’t repeat the same mistake in Iran.

ALI SHAHMIRI

San Diego

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Re “Rumsfeld memo was part of Bush plan, officials say,” Dec. 4

Bush seems to be gearing up to disregard the recommendations of the bipartisan commission on Iraq, and it looks as though he is even discounting the parting recommendations of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, the man credited with our present policy in Iraq. It seems we have a renegade president who is determined to go it alone. There is only one force capable of making him behave: the Republican Party, many of whose members disagree with his foreign policy, his free spending and mismanagement of government and his curtailment of civil liberties. When Republicans quietly inform their elected representatives in Congress; when Republicans turn down fundraisers, and when Republicans stop wildly cheering Bush at his orchestrated rallies -- then we will see a change in his practices. It is up to Republicans now to save the Union -- and saving the Union may well be at stake.

LARRY W. COHEN

Vista