21 April 2007
I may be an old lady, not versed in the ways of war but I do know a little about people and the human spirit. I would hope that one of our missions in Iraq would be to try to bring people together, not wall them off. The civil war in Iraq needs to be addressed by the Iraqi government and religious leaders. I feel that the huge wall that the Americans are building in Baghdad will cause more resentment against the US. The people there, were living in relative peace until, without so much as a by your leave, we marched in and took over. I remember when the Berlin Wall cut Berlin in half and separated people from relatives and friends. What joy there was when that wall came down. Why not redeploy our troops and stand back and observe what happens without our troops there. I think that the insurgents, fighting against our presence as occupation forces, would melt away and the Sunnis and Shiites would be forced to find a way to make their lives better for all. I’m not so naïve to think that the sectarian violence would completely end, but I do believe the it would greatly lessen and they would have to deal with their own problems
I’m not the only one who thinks that the wall is a bad idea. Residents feel that they are being treated inhumanly and also feel that they are being imprisoned. If this is only a short term plan, then what comes next? Walls have been used in other cities and other countries during strife but none really solved the problems. Resentment will build and build, leading to more American deaths.
Secretary of Defense Gates is in Iraq meeting with Maliki to give him “serious†benchmarks. Benchmarks given in the past, have come and gone without results. I, for one, no longer want to continue watching the needless slaughter going on, while waiting for the Maliki government to step up. Mr. President get our troops out of Iraq!!!
Thoughts for today… Joan Lough
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