OPINION:
The White House finally has admitted that the war in Iraq was ill-thought-out and without strategy or result. It also has conceded that efforts in Afghanistan have been less than satisfactory.
The U.S. gave a blank check in terms of lives and taxpayers’ money only to end up in an arguably bigger mess than they started with. Far-reaching questions have to be asked of American foreign and military policymakers, who have to decide to carry on with an indefinite struggle or pull out and leave the Iraqis and Afghans the chance for self-determination.
The price to America has been extremely high, with many people wondering what it was all about, perhaps seeing their loved ones come home in flag-draped metal coffins for some undefined cause and obscure enemy. It’s time for everybody in Washington to have a long, hard think about matters and look at the eventual consequences for everybody concerned on the ground with stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan.
MAURICE FITZGERALD
Shanbally, Ireland
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