Thursday, March 23, 2006

Iraqi timetable for US withdrawal?

Some US politicians and news media reporters keep asking President George Bush to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. He keeps saying there will be no timetable.
Wise?
Why? The United States has had troops in German since the end of World War II in 1945. It has had troops in Korea since the end of open hostilities in that country in 1953. It still has troops in Japan and Okinawa all these years after World War II. As far as I know, no one has asked about any withdrawal of American troops from those countries.
So, expect a long haul in Iraq.
How long is long?
I remember being stationed in Germany with the US Army between 1962-64. That was not even 20 years after the end of World War II when a lot of the larger cities, including Frankfurt where I was, were badly damaged by bombs. Well, I did not see any obvious damage from the war when I was there--except for the old opera house. It had been bombed, and the damage from the fire and explosions were still there. You could see it through a wire fence.
So, except for the old opera house, I thought German had recovered. Wrong!
I was there again, in Frankfurt, in 1993 and 1995, and guess what? The whole city was much, much different than I 'd rememberd from the 30 years earlier. The city was and probably still is a city of beautiful lights today. It was not when I was there in the 1060s. It is a wonderful city with seemingly a lot of money, and I realize now that it was not when I was there.
So, do not expect Iraq to correct itself tomorrow or next month or next year or the year after. All the hates and angers that have built up in a society held down by a dictatorship for so long will take a long time to finally subside. And, even when they do subside in a major way, there may still be threads of hate that linger in Iraqi society for decades. All of this will have to take there course.
So, expect the US troop withdrawal to be...maybe 100 years from now.