A letter to the NYT

In Ross Douthat’s column “The War We’d Like to Forget” he makes this
statement: “But the anti-war side often seemed far too willing to
leave Iraq to the furies, and far too reckless about the strategic
consequences of beating a retreat.”

This anti-war person felt that having the US military leave in the
summer of 2003 would have returned Iraq to stability by the end of the
calendar year. I believe that the fact that US authorities divided up
Iraqis by sect and race for political offices helped lead to the
sectarian violence we saw in later years. I believe that the US
forces themselves, in an effort to protect themselves from the Iraqis
who decided to become our enemies, killed and injured vast numbers of
innocent civilians. I believe the US forces in the country attracted
foreign terrorists to Iraqi soil.

Whether my beliefs were true or not we will never ever know, since the
US military is still in Iraq.

What we do know is that 20% of the population of Iraq is now
displaced, and probably another 4% is now dead. Probably at least
half of all Iraqis have suffered some grievous harm in the last few
years.

And we know that having the US military in the country DID NOT PREVENT
any of these horrific atrocities from happening. In short, we know
that the US military did not make life better for the majority of
Iraqis by the 2003 invasion and occupation.

So, the comment above about anti-war people being reckless shows the
height of hypocrisy. It was the pro-war people who were willing to
leave Iraq to the furies, and even today refuse to recognize that they
have wrought.

And you can bet your last dollar that the vast majority of Iraqi
people will never be grateful for all this destruction, even if they
do end up with a better government, which is doubtful.