Iraq debate.

• Author: Campbell, Douglas
• Position: Letter to the Editor

I read The Progressive because it is willing to present two sides of an issue, and although I am heavily biased toward immediate withdrawal of American troops and contractors, I read Erik K. Gustafson's piece thoroughly ("Abandonment of Iraq Is Wrong," June issue).

As it is with the American political system generally, two sides just aren't sufficient. Perhaps Gustafson is right that Iraq needs a continuing police presence until the nation stabilizes, but it need not be American. American troops and contractors should be withdrawn immediately. If that might result in a destabilized Iraq and civil war--and I remain unconvinced that civil war would actually be worse than the current American military occupation--then it should be somebody else doing the policing. The U.N., perhaps, or a coalition of Arab states, but not the United States.

The Bush League started this war to take control of Iraqi oil for Texas oilmen. There is no way American troops and contractors under its command can ever establish the on-the-ground credibility necessary to end the violence.

Douglas Campbell

Ferndale, Michigan

Gustafson's article was the best articulation yet of his position that I have seen or heard. Still, I am uncomfortable that he believes that some good can be done by U.S. personnel. U.S. credibility is (justifiably) almost nonexistent most places but here, and the U.S. military, and armies in general, don't exist for making peace.

Jim Haber

San Francisco, California

Thank you for that excellent assessment of the situation in Iraq by Gustafson. At least when liberals start wars, we do our best to finish them. Can anyone imagine FDR or Woodrow Wilson declaring war and then wandering off to the countryside to chat with the locals about their retirement plans? The Republicans are so dazzled by their military prowess that they have lost track of the fact that they haven't won a shooting war since Lincoln's day. Just how easy did Bush and the rest of the country think invading a country was going to be?

Far from representing the political fringe, articles like this one are the voice of reality. Keep them coming.

Kay Reimers

Fellow Springs, Ohio

Gustafson shows a deep commitment to peace and justice. But his reasoning is flawed in that he fails to see the big, lethal picture.

As wrongheaded and evil as the Bush Administration's Iraq invasion is, it is but one tactic in a much larger scheme. Bush and his confederates aim for nothing less than domination of...