Skepticism about the administration’s plan for Iraq is sprouting up across America. These editorials from newspapers around the nation raise timely questions.
Port Huron, Mich. – The Times Herald
U.N. Holds Best Promise for Iraq Self-Rule, November 14, 2003
“No matter how vigorously the White House tries to spin it, the U.S. policy in Iraq is coming apart. No matter how the Bush administration tries to defend it, the invasion and occupation are increasingly difficult to justify…
“Baghdad is looking more and more like Beirut…
“The greatest urgency is to revamp the Iraqi reconstruction strategy…
“Iraq needs an international authority to help its citizens restore order and establish democracy. The Bush administration should direct (Paul) Bremer toward that goal. The days of going it alone are over.”
Roanoke, Va. – The Roanoke Times & World News
Iraq’s Need: Security, Security, Security, November 14, 2003
“Some of our fury would be reserved, as some of the Iraqis’ seems to be, for the sheer incompetence for the occupation. Its uncomprehending leaders and planners have failed to provide for the finest essential of any nation’s stability: basic, everyday, on-the-ground security…
“This president is so undisciplined as to have put the entire financial costs of Iraq on credit, so unfocused as to have diverted attention and resources from the war against al-Queda and toward the Iraq misadventure, so impetuous as to disregard the pre-invasion cautions of allies and U.N. arms inspectors.”
Minneapolis, Minn. – The Star Tribune
Saddam’s Spirit: Can it be Banished in Time?, link unavailable, November 13, 2003
“(Lt. General Ricardo) Sanchez’s deliberate use of ‘war’ to describe the situation was intended, his aides said, to send a pointed message to Washington policymakers about the reality on the ground…
“The escalating guerrilla attacks on coalition forces – and their increasing sophistication – have put (the) struggle for allegiance in peril…
“More and more Iraqis appear to doubt the coalition’s staying power and are hedging their bets or actually throwing their lot in with the guerrillas.”
Louisville, Ky. – The Courier-Journal
Growing Apprehension, November 5, 2003
“It is difficult to see what the President can do to make the war shorter or less hard…
“(The President) is no longer swaggering beneath ‘Mission Accomplished’ banners or taunting the enemy in Iraq to ‘Bring ’em on’…
“The recent U.S. push for troops from other countries has gone almost completely unheeded, the predictable result of the President’s high-handedness before the war.”
Greensboro, N.c= – The News-Record
U.N. Should Oversee Free Iraqi Elections, November 15, 2003
“A new CIA report confirms the obvious – attacks on U.S. troops are on the rise and ordinary Iraqis are losing faith in American authorities…
“The CIA report, which the administration had tried to squelch, notes that growing numbers of Iraqis perceive coalition forces as occupiers rather than liberators…
“Staying the course (in Iraq) means renewed commitment, a resolve to share power and help from the world community.”
Tucson, Ariz. – The Tucson Citizen
Hasty U.S. Exit Would Thwart Iraq Rebuilding, November 14, 2003
“The bottom line is bleak: The United States deposed Saddam Hussein – which needed to be done – but spent too little time preparing for the post-Saddam
era…
“The United States must continue efforts to transfer political authority to an authority run by the United Nations – a body that has expertise in developing nations and conducting fair and democratic elections.”