For July 4: Three Editorial Pages, Three Views of War

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By: E&P Staff The Seattle Times on Sunday launched an unusual project, a series of editorials on Iraq that will run five consecutive days.

"Nothing about this is easy," it explained. "Americans too often are asked to support our government through support of our military men and women. In these editorials, we attempt to separate the vivid emotions of war from policy and ask where the policy is taking us."

Meanwhile, a newspaper far to the south with a less liberal reputation, the Huntsville (Ala.) Times, came out Sunday for a "realistic plan" to get out, while the Dallas Morning News ripped the U.S. invasion as "not wise" but said we must stand firm for now.

In the first installment of its editorial series on Sunday, the Seattle Times declared flatly, "The time has come to begin planning an exit from Iraq. We are not wanted there, and we have no legitimate national interest in staying.

"Our original war aim, the toppling of Saddam Hussein, has been achieved. It is now apparent that we are not even close to achieving the add-on mission of creating a democratic, law-abiding Iraqi state in which Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds share power.

"Why are we there? The average American cannot clearly explain it. That may be the most telling comment of all.

"The supporters of war say, 'Support the troops.' We support them. We are proud of them. Our soldiers' performance in combat has been superb. If it were a matter of winning the war, the discussion would be over. Now, it is a matter of securing a peace and that is where our soldiers' civilian masters made many mistakes.

"Now that the people think of bringing the troops home, they are told we cannot because it would make America look weak. We remember that argument from Vietnam, from Somalia and other places. It is a phony argument. We can bring our troops home. We have done it before and can do it again."

Editorials in the coming days, the newspaper said, will examine the cost to America of the ongoing conflict, the lack of preparation for the war's end, the extension of the war into personal liberties, and prisoner containment and treatment.

Far to the south, the Huntsville Times declared: "A specific timetable is a bad idea; a realistic plan is not."

Iraq "has become a nightmare," the editorial said. While setting a timetable for withdrawal is not a good idea now, Bush must do a far better job than he's done so far of formulating a plan and outlining a scenario under which the troops could be extracted. At some point, the fate of Iraq must rest with the Iraqis. They need time, but we simply cannot, as the secretary of defense speculated, give them 12 years.

"The goal of invading Iraq was not to give it a permanent army of occupation. The goal of invading Iraq, aside from the removal of the nonexistent weapons, was to end an oppressive regime and let the people move toward freedom, democracy and domestic security. ...

"No, we don't get any do-overs. But we ought to learn from our mistakes -- especially from a mistake that has taken so many lives, resulted in so much suffering and cost so much money."

The Dallas Morning News sounded oddly like Howard Dean in rapping the war, but concluded that it is no time to back down.

"Americans are becoming disillusioned with the war in Iraq, and for good reason," the editorial said. "The reality there does not match the administration's initial promises of a firm, efficient military victory and a stable, democratic Iraq.

"The question that is urgent today is: Should we end this war? The question we must answer for the future, for the day when our nation may contemplate another pre-emptive war, is: Would America have been better off if it had not invaded Iraq?

"In retrospect, it seems clear that America's going to war on sketchy intelligence, with poor post-combat planning and simplistic political notions, was not wise. That does not mean good cannot still come from the war; lemons are the basis of lemonade. And, since we are facing hard truths, here is the hardest one of all: To abandon the fight prematurely, given the almost certain consequences, would be catastrophic.

"That is not a happy message, but it is the only responsible one."

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