Coming to the Aid of Decent People

I agree with Senator Lieberman’s commentary today in the Washington Post Why We Need More Troops in Iraq By Joseph Lieberman

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.

And PM Tony Blair’s commentary in Foreign Affairs

This is not a clash between civilizations; it is a clash about civilization. It is the age-old battle between progress and reaction, between those who embrace the modern world and those who reject its existence — between optimism and hope, on the one hand, and pessimism and fear, on the other.

Yes this war has been mismanaged, it is inconvenient, and it is expensive. And yes we may lose it still. But I can’t support abandoning so many millions of people that WE put in harms way by surrendering them to ethnic cleansing. I feel shame when the most powerful society in history abandoned so many freedom loving southeast Asians after the Vietnam War, when we ignore those in Darfur, Rwanda, Bosnia and other killing fields.

I would be willing to pay higher taxes and volunteer once a week in a military base to allow trained soldiers to go over there, because I believe this is necessary and worth the sacrifice.