iraq choices

There's a viciously honest op-ed in the NYTimes by Thomas Friedman about the choices we have in Iraq. It's a somber and direct piece but evenhanded. It's extremely well written. Especially in light of its brevity. I thought it was a gutsy piece and it is worth a read (note Op-eds are free this week if you don't have a NYTimes subscription. So read it now). Some quotes,

Our only two options left today in Iraq are “tolerable” and “awful.” “Good” is no longer on the menu. When you read stories from Iraq saying that all we need to do is get rid of all the police there, get one-third of the soldiers in the Iraqi Army to actually report to duty regularly, and replace all the ministers who are corrupt, you know why “good” is not on the menu anymore.

It’s time to make a final push for the tolerable, and if that fails, quit Iraq and insulate ourselves and our allies from the awful. This can’t go on.

A U.S. withdrawal under such conditions would be messy and shameful. But when people are that intent on killing each other there’s not much we can do. As bad as we’ve performed in Iraq, what Iraqis have done to each other, and the little that other Muslims have done to stop them, is an even bigger travesty.