Word: strengthing
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First and foremost, the political process--including significant Sunni participation--must pass its capstone test during the Dec. 15 election. Beyond that, Pentagon planners are tracking four main issues: enemy strength, the capability of Iraq's own security forces, effective local governance and technical and communication abilities to allow U.S. troops to talk to and support Iraqi forces when they need reinforcement. The U.S. military insists that all those benchmarks are trending in the right direction. For example, the Americans say that despite launching 50 attacks a day, the insurgents have been unable to derail political progress. Even more heartening...
That's hard to say. The insurgents have been able to feed off the dislike most Iraqis have for the occupation. "The slow withdrawal of U.S. forces should eat away an important part of the insurgents' support base" and diminish their strength, predicts Seth Jones, an Iraq analyst at the Rand Corp. who advises the Pentagon. Many Sunni Arabs who boycotted Iraq's elections last January appear genuinely interested in participating in the Dec. 15 vote, while Iraqi nationalists and former regime members active in the insurgency are signaling an interest in forming political parties rather than in continuing armed...
Strategically, however, any U.S. withdrawal would have to be conducted "from a position of strength," says Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Rand. Al-Qaeda has always believed Americans lack patience and stamina when "the going gets rough," Hoffman says. "If the U.S. is seen as being stampeded out of the violence in Iraq, that will only be waving a red flag at the terrorists." But coming up with an exit strategy for Iraq--without appearing to run away--won't be easy...
...excuses of those who do. Susan Star Durban, South Africa Admirable, Not Heroic? re Time's list of "European Heroes 2005" [Oct. 10]: I dispute your selection of Frenchwoman Maud Fontenoy, who rowed across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a small boat. Certainly she has courage, determination, strength, resilience and stamina, and her long-distance rowing achievements are admirable, but she is no hero. If she channeled her fame into raising money to combat aids or poverty, if she taught sailing to underprivileged teens as a way to help them see beyond the crime and poverty they grow...
...country. The war in Iraq, like the intervention in Kosovo, was supposed to reflect the U.S.’ absolute commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights. To use Bush’s words, “America is a strong nation and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers. Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation.” By legalizing torture, the government belies these fine words and undermines the moral...