To the editor:

Incurring a precipitous or phased withdrawal is not a way to correct a foreign policy decision made five years ago. We should finish what we began. Leaving would not erase our presence in Iraq; we are connected with it now whether we like it or not. There are no take-backs in foreign policy.

Additionally, the proponents of withdrawal seem to forget that an evacuation from Iraq would, most likely, doom it to a lack of civil order and would only increase the negative perception of U.S. foreign policy at home and abroad. Anti-war activists exalt the anti-U.S. foreign opinion as proof for a withdrawal from Iraq. An early departure would only further reinforce it. It is necessary and right to stick to our policy and the advances made in the past year and to continue in its direction to ensure civil order for their future.

No war is scripted. It is true there existed a large amount of hubris with the initial expectations of post-invasion Iraq with regard to how easy it would be to redesign Iraq’s civil polity. Policymakers did not appreciate the complexity of the task and what would be unleashed with the removal of Saddam Hussein. However, now, the ship has been righted and we are progressing in the right direction with the right policies. Abandoning the advances already achieved would dishonor the Iraqis and Americans who have pledged and given their lives to achieve a secure and stable future for Iraq.

Karl Rubis,

Lawrence