Bush Administration Meeting, Dealing with Iraqi Insurgents Unacceptable

As insurgents continue to step-up their attacks on Coalition troops in Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld recently acknowledged that U.S. officials have actually met with insurgent commanders for negotiations. This is not only a slap in the face to all the troops who are fighting and dying for this false war, but it also goes against the supposed "Bush Doctrine" itself. To top it all off, many recent Internet polls show that most people are in favor of this negotiation process if it helps bring home U.S. troops. The problem is that this method of negotiating with terrorists undermines the troops currently fighting in Iraq and the integrity of the U.S. in the international community.

First of all, it is obvious that the Bush administration has failed in its planning and implementation of this "war on terror." Remember, these chains of events were all derived from the horrific attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. And for some unknown (and should be thoroughly investigated) reason, the Bush administration diverted the attention from the true culprits of the "war on terror" to focus on U.S. military action in the country of Iraq. Whatever one believes is the cause of the Iraq war - weapons of mass destruction, harboring terrorists or the Democratization of the Iraqi people - it has clearly been a military planning disaster, and negotiating with the insurgent terrorists is not the way to fix the problem.

It is not unusual for this administration to go back on its word, but to go against the policy of negotiating with terrorists should invoke a negative response to even the most absent minded Conservatives. This reverse in policy should be absolutely unacceptable to all Americans, and it also shows the desperate measures this administration is willing to go to make sure that this is not "their" failure. But it is a failure, and many Americans are starting to come to the same realization.

At this point, the U.S. troops need to pull out of the country, and the administration needs to abandon ship on this theory of democratization by force. Unfortunately, if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq now, the country of Iraq would be in utter chaos and become a terrorist haven for years to come (if it isn't already). So what should the U.S. do? For the sake of any further U.S bloodshed and the possibility of this war becoming a quagmire of historic proportions, the U.S. government needs to start thinking about the American public's interests as opposed to continuing with this broken attempt at Democratization.

Every war has a winner and a loser. And up to this point, there has been no clear objective available for the U.S. to claim a legitimate victory. Thousands of U.S. troops - both men and women - will continue to die and get maimed if the Bush administration persists with this tragic abuse of the military complex. The American people and members of Congress should demand that this president end this mistake in foreign policy before the U.S. loses world credibility.

Before the Iraq invasion, Colon Powell said one of the most memorable analogies in a speech about potential military action in the region. He compared a potential U.S. invasion to a customer policy of a pottery barn in that "You break it, you own it." Well now that the U.S. owns this Iraq situation, how about putting it back together the way it was and taking it back to the pottery barn. Sure, the U.S. will never get its original value, but it's better than taking a total loss.

Many may find this strategy unacceptable and would never stand to see Iraq the way it was. But negotiating with the same terrorists that are sending thousands of U.S. troops back home without arms or legs, disfigured or in body bags is something that the author of this article can't palate and will never accept. And no true American patriot should accept it either.