Letters: Oct. 17, 2005

Is Iraq a Futile Fight?

The report on the U.S. military's frustrating struggle in Iraq sparked comment from readers who oppose the war. Others who wrote despaired of the costs of the conflict but could see no easy way out. Some letter writers, however, felt that questioning U.S. actions only gives comfort to the enemy

"Now that we have toppled Saddam, helped form a new government and overseen the writing of a constitution, it's time to get out of Iraq."

(RABBI) H. DAVID TEITELBAUM

Redwood City, Calif.

I was delighted to see a major American magazine giving readers the truth about the war in Iraq [Sept. 26]. You labeled Joe Klein's report as the "secret history" of U.S. mistakes and misjudgments in failing to thwart the Iraqi insurgency at its start. I contend that the situation was in no way secret. Non-Americans knew even before the war began that if the U.N. didn't run the postwar occupation, a disaster was inevitable. The U.S. is the dinosaur of modern conflict--all brute force with a peanut-size brain, completely outdated in a world where credibility comes first.

SAM SMITH

Oxford, England

It is too late to win the war in Iraq only if you believe it is already lost or you want the U.S. to lose. People have failed to learn the lesson the insurgents grasped early on: It ain't over till it's over.

DOUGLAS YOUNG

Los Angeles

The financial cost of the Iraq war is driving the U.S. ever further into debt. The war looks as though it can't be won. The only course is to get out. If you can't finance a war, then you shouldn't be fighting one.

MARVIN SHANE

Winnipeg, Man.

War is a tragic part of the human condition but is sometimes necessary to combat such evils as slavery, fascism and, yes, terrorism. The Iraq war, however, will achieve no noble purpose. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and democracy will exist in Iraq for about as long as U.S. troops are there. Many more Saddams are waiting to rise to the top in Iraq. We were naive to think we could easily paste a veneer of Jeffersonian democracy on a land where tribal allegiances date back centuries. By almost any measure, this war is a tragic blunder. Yet to withdraw our troops now would compound the mistake we made in deciding to invade and would leave an unstable and volatile nation to fend for itself. So what should Americans do? We should support our troops until some sort of muddled conclusion allows at least a partial withdrawal.

KEN REICH

San Rafael, Calif.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have given their lives defending freedom. The relative sacrifice in Iraq is insignificant compared with what inaction would cost us. I do not like war and wish the need for it would end, but headlines like "Is It Too Late to Win the War?" illustrate that TIME has no idea what this enemy is like. Nor do you understand that the insurgents will not negotiate or play by the rules. They will not give up until they are defeated. I hope the President will use his bully pulpit to put that in perspective for the uninformed who think that the U.S. has made a mistake and that the war against terrorism is a video game you can wind up before dinner.

WILLIAM H. FILES

Evansville, Ind.