[Peace-discuss] Obama letter on the Public Square

[Morton K.Brussel]

I read the following on Thursday to WILL's Public Square. It is a bit 
modified from what I wrote previously, with an allusion to Obama's vote 
for SOS Rice suggested by Carl.  This should appear near the end of 
February; I hope it is not out of date by then. mkb


My name is Mort Brussel. I’m a concerned citizen and member of AWARE. 
This is a personal open letter to Senator Obama:

Dear Senator:

It is clear that the United States is in a quagmire in Iraq.

There are now growing calls, from all sides of the political spectrum, 
for the United States to withdraw from Iraq.  Please add your voice to 
this chorus and do whatever you can to induce the Bush administration 
to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.

There are those who argue that the United States has a moral obligation 
to rebuild Iraq. I agree, but that does not require keeping troops and 
bases in Iraq, thereby maintaining our grip there. The only moral and 
reasonable recourse is for the President to withdraw all U.S. forces 
there as quickly as possible.

Some argue that withdrawal from Iraq may lead to disaster: Civil war 
may break out; an extremist Islamic government may take over; outside 
countries may intervene; the country may be partitioned. But all these 
possibilities have been engendered by the depredations of U.S. forces 
in Iraq and by the U.S. control of Iraqi life. There can be no true 
democracy in Iraq under an American boot. We have to let the Iraqi 
people find their own way.

On the other hand, withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq will lessen the 
vulnerability of American forces, will diminish Iraqi casualties, halt 
the physical and cultural destruction of Iraqi society, serve to 
diminish terrorism, and will improve America’s standing in the eyes of 
the world, especially if we help Iraq reconstitute itself by generously 
giving reconstruction aid as reparations for our aggression there.

The United States must withdraw its troops from Iraq even if the 
obvious, if denied, original aims, which were to control this oil rich 
region, have to be abandoned.

Please make this a top priority. You were elected by many who had faith 
that you would act to stop the war and the occupation of Iraq. Do not 
betray that faith, a faith which, I must say, has already been shaken 
by your inauspicious approval of our present Secretary of State, and by 
your membership in the retrograde Democratic Leadership Council.
Sincerely,
Morton. K. Brussel

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