Garance Franke-Ruta over at Tapped asks all the right questions about the latest news from Iraq:
Some would argue that America has a moral obligation to stay in order to prevent this brutal outcome. But who is the U.S. supposed to ally itself with in such a situation? The anti-U.S. Sunni insurgents? Al-Qaeda? No -- we're fighting them. And thereby helping the Madhi Army, and strenghtening Iran -- whom we are also sort of fighting. What if every side is one we can't support? And there is no morally superior side we can ally ourselves with? We should stay to strengthen the hand of the slaughterers? Do we not also become complicit in the crimes of the Iraqis by allying ourselves with them? And where is the morality in that?
One more time, for posterity:
The Iraqi forces we are training are not necessarily our allies. The Iraqi government we are supporting does not have even remotely the same interests as us. Our policy in Iraq is doing nothing to advance our long-term interests, and it may, as this incident shows, be doing much to actively damage them. And yet somehow, the people actively promoting this policy believe that my pointing this out is emboldening our enemies.
Bring them home. Bring them home now.
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