Coalition of the obstinate

By Sam Fran Scavuzzo
Collegian Editor
February 28, 2007

As Michael Moore so inarticulately pointed out in his film Fahrenheit 9/11, President Bush’s campaign in Iraq had a very weak “coalition of the willing.” Other than the United Kingdom, very little financial, military and economic support came from the coalition comprised of such military experts as Slovenia, Denmark, Moldova and Latvia, according to the Associated Press.

Now, even the United States’ main ally has gone by the wayside.

Last week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, feeling the heat from his nation’s unpopular involvement in the war, pledged to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. According to the Associated Press, Blair’s plan hopes to remove 1,600 troops over the coming months, with the ultimate short-term goal to cut the current 7,100 troop level to below 5,000 by late summer.

What has been the United States’ reaction to the rebuff of Bush’s all-but-initiated troop surge? Not inspiring.

The ever quotable Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview with ABCNews, “I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well.”

Our administration’s sugar-coating has gone on long enough. Cheney’s view does everything but shed light on the situation. Having America’s biggest ally decrease troops while we increase them doesn’t make sense.

Bush, Cheney and the rest of the good ol’ boys in Washington need to read the writing on the wall: the war in Iraq is failing. Over the weekend, a female suicide bomber killed 41 people at a college in Baghdad, according to the Associated Press. Britain isn’t pulling out because it’s getting better: they are leaving because it is getting noticeably worse.

They are leaving because their nation doesn’t support a campaign that has more tinges of imperialism and colonialism than representative democracy. They are leaving because a civil war is raging, and their presence is not aiding in the least.

I am not advocating an immediate withdrawal, as it would be irresponsible and a shock to Iraq.

We need a realistic plan that gradually takes troops from the country, as Great Britain is doing. Sometimes the mother country can offer some good advice.

scavuzzos1@lasalle.edu