Berkeley Editorial: Staying the Course in Iraq

In fact, the biggest problem that the "anti-war" movement has right now is the illusion that somehow the war they protested starting in 2003 is the same war that they're protesting today.

The 2003 movement was asking for multilateral responses to Saddam Hussein like U.N. resolutions and weapons inspectors. Not only were the demands legitimate, but the truth exposed after the invasion-that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam Hussein had little or no connection to international terrorism-vindicated their claims.

But the 2005 case for withdrawal has almost nothing in common with this legacy...

...the way to fix things in Iraq isn't to pack up and go home. Just because we went in for the wrong reasons and are going about the rebuilding process rather badly doesn't mean we should up and leave completely. On the contrary, having made these mistakes, we have an obligation to set things right as best we can.

...Whichever side one took in 2003, it is time to put aside the hurt and momentum of the initial anti-war protests and think rationally about what will be best for the Iraqi people and the world at large.