THE FINDINGS MAY have been a secret. But they were no surprise.
On Tuesday, President Bush released part of an intelligence report on Iraq. The overall conclusion: It’s a mess. According to the report, the war in Iraq has bred resentment of the United States in the Muslim world and is creating a new generation of terrorists.
That’s disheartening, but hardly shocking. These days, many Americans would probably say the war isn’t going as well as hoped. Three weeks ago, a CBS/New York Times poll found that 48 percent of those surveyed thought the Iraq war had increased the threat of terrorism, compared to 12 percent who thought it had made things better.
What’s even less surprising is that the report has become campaign fodder. Some Democrats are seizing on it as proof that the administration doesn’t know what it’s doing while some Republicans are echoing the report’s assessment that a U.S. defeat in Iraq would only make matters worse.
The likeliest end result is another round of finger-pointing in high places. Which is exactly what we don’t need.
What we need are answers, not accusations.
Leaving aside the simplistic rhetoric on both sides, it’s not just a matter of “stay the course” versus “cut and run.” What’s needed is some serious work by both parties — and, dare we ask it, cooperation between them — to design a plan that eventually brings our soldiers home without leaving the region in chaos.
Easy? Of course not. Necessary? Yes.
We came into this war at least partly on the basis of bad information and mistaken assumptions. We owe it to ourselves to make sure that our departure is better thought out.
Scott Rochat
Senior Reporter