NYT calls for Iraq withdrawal
A Sunday New York Times editorial called for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, calling the war a lost cause.
“It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit,” the influential daily wrote in a rare, single-issue editorial taking up one-half of an entire news page.
“Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward,” the daily wrote.
But it has since emerged, the Times concluded, that Bush has “neither the vision nor the means to do that.”
“It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost,” the daily opined.
The Times editorial went on: “Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces … It is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.”
The editorial concluded: “This country faces a choice. We can go on allowing Mr. Bush to drag out this war without end or purpose. Or we can insist that American troops are withdrawn as quickly and safely as we can manage — with as much effort as possible to stop the chaos from spreading.”
afp
Stumble it!