Do We Have Any Idea What We're Doing in Iraq?

This war is a mess. I hope we can all agree by now that the whole thing was poorly and hastily planned. I think all Americans should all be disappointed that we are pumping so many billions of dollars into Iraq, while the budget deficit grows and while we will almost definitely be cutting funding for education and healthcare, without making more progress than we have. On the other hand, we can't just pull out. We have a responsibility to the Iraqi people to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I feel pressured to support the growing bipartisan push to start withdrawaling troops as soon as possible, but my obsessive compulsive nature tells me that we shouldn't pull out of Iraq if doing so means leaving a big mess. Do we need more troops to finish the job? Are disappointing recruitment numbers hurting the war effort, both in terms of personnel and morale?

I find humorous the efforts of liberal bloggers to convince young, conservative war supporters to enlist. But seriously, if we're going to get the job done, someone is going to have to do it. I won't be too critical of war supporters who don't sign up or encourage others to do so because I spend much of my days in a rolly chair in an air-conditioned space. Still, part of me feels that I need to go, that I need to do my part to serve my country and my world. I don't know what I would do, since I'm a pacifist and would never carry a gun. Surely not everything we are doing in Iraq involves shooting or threatening people.

At any rate, I'm all talk. Catch me in a few months. I'll be in a rolly chair, a nice autumn breeze blowing through my window.

Shalom.