Give The Effort In Iraq

More Time

To the Editor:

The surge in Baghdad, requiring five more combat brigades, is still in its infancy, as all will not finally arrive until May or June. General Petraeus’s message to Americans and Congress seemed to be “give the effort more time,” as he spoke to reporters on April 26. The US plan of putting boots on the ground has shown that it can have an impact on violence, he noted. He also noted a significant withdrawal of forces by fall or next year, in which US forces essentially retreat to centralized bases, could result in an increase in such violence.

“The situation is exceedingly complex and very tough,” he said. “Success will take continued commitment, perseverance, and sacrifice.”

With some pockets of progress, life in Baghdad includes robust marketplaces, people walking on the street, soccer games, and other forms of daily activity that most Americans may not appreciate because the number of sensational attacks, including an increasing number of suicide and car bombings, mask those routines. Many of the suicide and car bombings are carried out by foreign fighters — indeed making the situation an enormous challenge.

Also on April 26 an op-ed piece by syndicated columnist David Broder, not a conservative by any means, calls Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid “a continuing embarrassment thanks to his amateurish performance.” While Reid calls the war “lost,” we have, often standing along side of him House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both with their childish prankster smirks as they delay and officiate.

I’m sure both Democratic and Republican statesmen and patriots in crises, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, are turning over in their graves.

Dick Seibert

73 Butterfield Road, Newtown                                      April 26, 2007