Panic Is Not The Solution
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10218888/site/newsweek/
Many Democrats are understandably enraged over Iraq. But in responding
in equally partisan fashion, they could well precipitate a tragedy.
By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek
Dec. 5, 2005 issue - The rising clamor in Washington to get out of Iraq
may be right or may be wrong, but one thing is certain: its timing has
little to do with events in that country. Iraq today is no worse off
than it was three months ago, or a year ago. Nor has there been a
sudden spike in the numbers of American troops being killed. In fact,
in some ways things have improved recently. What's driving this debate,
however, are events in America. President Bush's approval rating has
plummeted, battered by Iraq but also by Hurricane Katrina. The
Democrats, sensing weakness, are trying to draw blood. But the result
is a debate that is oddly timed. Iraq is in the midst of full-scale
political campaigning and is three weeks from a crucial election, the
first in which there will be large-scale Sunni participation. This will
also be the first election to yield a government with real-and
lasting-powers. (It will have a four-year term, compared with the
last two governments, which had six months each.)
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