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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brasco One who wrote (100793)	6/18/2007 6:33:39 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Sacrifice of Iraq war must be shared equitably ''War may be necessary at times, but it should never be easy, and the burden should never be placed on the back of a select group of citizens.'' ERIC FAIR After returning from Iraq for the second time in late 2005, I started writing on these pages calling for an end to the war. It wasn't long before I was labeled a liberal, a traitor, and a coward by readers who have never served and never seen the horrors of combat. My call for an end to the war, however, had nothing to do with my political views. It stemmed from the lack of commitment and sacrifice I had seen from the American people. I returned home to find a country uninvolved and unconcerned with a war policy that was growing worse by the day. It is now apparent that our leaders do not have the courage to bring an end to this war in Iraq; no matter how misguided it continues to be. I suspect my own children will be dealing with this issue when they eventually come of age. But if our leaders continue to refuse to do what is necessary to end this war, the time has come for them to be honest with the American people about what will be required in the coming years. A democratic nation should never wage war without involving its citizens. Everyone must play a part, and everyone must be made to understand what is at stake. War may be necessary at times, but it should never be easy, and the burden should never be placed on the back of a select group of citizens. Our current leaders refuse to admit this difficult truth. President Bush is right when he tells us that it will take more troops to succeed in Iraq, but as usual, he tells only half-truths. Paragraph 1-67 of Army Field manual 3-24, which was written by Gen. David Petraeus, states, ''Twenty counterinsurgents per 1,000 residents is often considered the minimum troop density required for effective counterinsurgency operations.'' Do the math. You'll find that our troop levels never have, and never will meet the minimum standard needed to pacify Baghdad's five million residents. That's to say nothing of Iraq as a whole. By Gen. Petraeus's own standards, we are prosecuting a losing strategy. As the comedian Jon Stewart noted, the addition of 30,000 troops in a country of 25 million is no surge, it's a gratuity. If we as a nation choose to continue this war in Iraq the overall size of the military must increase and far more Americans must be asked to volunteer for service. This will be difficult, and the strain on our citizens will be severe. Taxes will be raised to ensure that all Americans help carry this burden meaning our standard of living is likely to go down. And despite my own personal aversion to a draft, we can no longer move forward without one. If we as a country think these steps impractical, imprudent, or inconvenient, we have no business in Iraq. This isn't easy for me. Having seen war, I never again want to be a part of it, and I'm reluctant to support a policy that calls for more of it. Only under the most desperate circumstances should we unleash war's terrible fury into the world. That sentiment was missing in 2003 when those who had never seen war were far too eager to start one. I was one of them. Iraq was neither the time nor the place. That's been well documented, and history will hold us accountable for that mistake. The United States of America stands as the greatest democracy in human history. But, as citizens we have an obligation to share the burden of war. Equally important is our obligation to prevent a particular segment of our society from monopolizing war. Waging war with only a small percentage of a nation's citizens while another group profits is an irresponsible and dangerous path for a democracy such as ours. President Eisenhower warned us about this in his 1961 farewell speech. He would be ashamed of our current predicament in Iraq. We must find a way to attend to this terrible mistake we have made in Iraq. But if our leaders and our citizens remain unwilling to mobilize this country's resources in a more equitable manner, then we, as a democracy, have lost the moral authority to prosecute this war. It won't be easy, it won't be cheap, it won't be quick, and it won't be without terrible sacrifice. Despite what our president has led all of us to believe, war never is. Eric Fair of Bethlehem served in the U.S. Army as an Arabic linguist. He has worked in Iraq as a contractor and as an intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense. His e-mail address is erictfair@comcast.net.