Joe Lieberman on Iraq

Joe Lieberman in the Washington Post makes some intelligent comments on the situation in Iraq. The whole editorial is worth reading, Lieberman is neither a toady for the administration nor an unbridled optimist but he understands the real stakes in Iraq at this point. Here are three key quotes:

"The most pressing problem we face in Iraq is not an absence of Iraqi political will or American diplomatic initiative, both of which are increasing and improving; it is a lack of basic security. As long as insurgents and death squads terrorize Baghdad, Iraq's nascent democratic institutions cannot be expected to function, much less win the trust of the people."

and "This bloodshed, moreover, is not the inevitable product of ancient hatreds. It is the predictable consequence of a failure to ensure basic security and, equally important, of a conscious strategy by al-Qaeda and Iran, which have systematically aimed to undermine Iraq's fragile political center. "

He concludes with "I saw firsthand evidence in Iraq of the development of a multiethnic, moderate coalition against the extremists of al-Qaeda and against the Mahdi Army, which is sponsored and armed by Iran and has inflamed the sectarian violence. We cannot abandon these brave Iraqi patriots who have stood up and fought the extremists and terrorists."

Lieberman admits that the additional troops which he argues for are not going to assure victory but he does think that without them, the failure will be accelerated unless we respond at this point with more forces.