Problems on Iraq Front

Today’s lead article in The New York Times is titled, “Storm of Violence in Iraq Strains Its Security Forces.” The article describes recent suicide attacks in Iraq and increased sectarian violence.

Recent events seem particularly ominous. The timing of the attacks coincides with American withdrawal from Iraqi cities and the handover of security to Iraqi forces. The inability of Iraqi forces to stop the attacks raises questions about how well they are trained to protect their own country.

The timing also raises questions about whether Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents have been purposefully laying low, playing a waiting game until American forces started their withdrawal. The location of the attacks, near a Shiite mosque, suggests a possible renewal of sectarian violence, and the death toll, almost 150 during the past 24-hour period, is having a major impact on the new perception of security by Iraqi civilians.

If this deterioration continues, the debate will soon focus on the appropriate American response. We are already shifting troops to Afghanistan and transitioning our forces to the “true” threat to our national security. Will President Obama continue the withdrawal — from this unnecessary war — or will he react to try and maintain the security gains over the past couple of months. Will this all affect our timetable for withdrawal?

In my opinion, we should continue to pull out our troops. We can’t serve as guarantor of the security for every nation in the world, and we certainly have given the Iraqis every chance to set up a functioning nation. They must work out their own destiny whatever it might be.