US Must Resist Temptation to Leave Iraq
Reader comment on item: Civil war likely in Iraq: Pipes

Submitted by William Robert Jack (United States), Mar 20, 2006 at 14:59

In my opinion there is not a civil war going on in Iraq. We should not withdraw from the area, but should remain there with firm resolve. Every car bombing and every death is covered by the liberal media in an attempt to create the perception that things are out of control throughout the nation and that civil war has has erupted.

What if the media covered every fatal car accident in this country. That might very well create the perception that everyone should start walking and give up there cars. Or what if every homicide were reported in this nation by the media. This might lead to the conclusion that there was a civil war of the murderers against the innocent--so what would we do?

I sent the following letter to the Los Angeles Times on March 20, 2006:

"This is in response to your article "Some Say Civil War Already Started - Los Angeles Times"
We are at a tipping point in the Iraq conflict, and should not leave anytime soon. What we see in Iraq is not in my opinion a civil war. The United States experienced a civil war. There were nearly a million casualties and a half million deaths. It will take many more than 50 deaths a day country wide to say that Iraq is in a civil war, so we should resist the temptation to sensationalize any sectarian reprisals, and the work of insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the political situation in Iraq. To leave now would erase three years of hard earned progress, create a horrific vacuum for terrorism and anarchy, and turn a major political and psychological victory over to radical Islam."

The media could do a great service by attempting to identify the causes of Iraqi deaths by whether they were attributable to sectarian violence or to the work of insurrgency or terrorists--that is not an exact science, and would be difficult, however it would help to place the nature of the problem from a civil war standpoint into perspective.

If a true civil war breaks out in Iraq, it will be very obvious. But as long as there are insurgents and terrorists involved in the killings, and the death toll remains in the 50 a day range, there is not a civil war in my opinion.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.