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# Letter: Withdrawing from Iraq sooner rather than later
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/011207-story-20070112-2/
- Published: 2007-01-12T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T22:59:54.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Art Chesluk Santa Monica*

Jack Neworth Laughing Matters Getting out while getting is good Editor: It is no wonder we are getting the wrong answers in Iraq. We are asking the wrong questions! The question is not what will happen there if we withdraw our presence, but how will it compare now with what will happen when we eventually leave. Unless we intend to be there permanently, we must leave sometime.

Every day we are there we are killing people on both sides and increasing our debt recklessly, not even mentioning the adverse effect to the Iraqi people themselves. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Using temporary Band-Aids never works when major surgery is desperately needed.

This war, as no other in our history, has been totally botched and the answer is certainly not to make it worse by digging ourselves in deeper. The adding of troops is the expression of a spoiled brat who has been protected all his life by bailouts. It is time for some tough love to be used.

If we pull out completely now, and force Iraq to deal with the problems, it is not good, but this will be true no matter when we withdraw.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 12, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)