U.S. Scales Back Diplomacy in Iraq Amid Fiscal and Security Concerns

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/world/middleeast/us-scales-back-diplomacy-in-iraq-amid-fiscal-and-security-concerns.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=u.s.%20scales%20back%20diplomacy&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 6:49 AM
Subject: re: U.S. Scales Back Diplomacy in Iraq Amid Fiscal and Security Concerns
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   With the capture of Saddam Hussein, a window of opportunity opened for U.S. diplomacy. At that time, we could have created a free Kurdistan. Sure, it would have irked our Turkish ally, and a landlocked Kurdistan would have to live in a rough neighborhood. But we would have gotten in return a staunch ally and a valuable airbase. The Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld team preferred to double down on a foolish wager. That window has long since closed. Now, we propose to walk away from Bush's $2trillion venture and the graves of 4,000 of our sons and daughters with nothing. And that's the best scenario available anymore.

Barry Haskell Levine