To War or not to War? First Stop the Bleeding.

The recent debate in the US government throughout the most recent episode with General Petraeus testifying before Congress has led me to the conclusion that the US does not have the willpower to withdraw from Iraq. Yes, you read correctly, the weak and easy choice is to keep the Army and Marines fighting there and turn a blind eye to the reality on the ground. The real unknowns are what will happen if we leave and this is what scares people more than what will happen if we stay.

This war is bleeding the United States in countless ways, and it's important to find a way to stop the bleeding. Since we have been unable to control the violence in Iraq and are unwilling to leave Iraq, we are stuck in the middle of a bad situation. What the government is doing is having leaders like General Petraeus at Capitol Hill testify before Congress, and set a false deadlines one after another intended more to keep antiwar supporters quiet and buy time, which is a clever political manipulation.

Those that voted for the Iraq War are responsible for what has happened. Even though many of them now regret voting for it, they did not think about it more carefully and take enough time to analyze all the angles and come up with contingency plans. Whatever your ideas about this war, it's the people who had no say in the matter that are paying for it, while the Congress bickers, while the President ignores his own people. We have to keep up the pressure on the Congress, on the President to do something different in Iraq and cut the bleeding. Here are the numbers of each party's vote on the Iraq War resolution on October 11, 2002:

House:
Republicans: Ayes - 215; Nays - 6
Democrats: Ayes - 81; Nays - 126

Senate:
Republicans: Ayes - 48; Nays - 1
Democrats: Ayes - 29; Nays - 21