Editorial Opinion on War Topsy-Turvy, as Neuharth Calls for U.S. Withdrawal
NEW YORK Newspaper editorial opinion on America's continuing war in Iraq (news - web sites) turned topsy-turvy over the weekend, with several conservative commentators criticizing the White House, The New York Times re-affirming its support for the U.S. occupation -- and the founder of USA Today not only calling for a quick withdrawal, but for President Bush (news - web sites) to announce he will not run for re-election.
One might ask what the American adventure in Iraq is coming to when Republican booster Tucker Carlson says he was "foolish" to support the war (claiming he was led astray by friends), and George Will and David Brooks offer profound misgivings, while the New York Times advocates "sending more troops, or delaying scheduled rotations out of Iraq." But it was a column by politically moderate Allen H. Neuharth in USA Today that proved most startling.
After calling the Iraq war "the biggest military mess miscreated in the Oval Office and miscarried by the Pentagon (news - web sites) in my 80-year lifetime," Neuharth on Friday declared: "Reluctantly, I now believe the best way to support troops in Iraq is to bring them home, starting with the 'hand-over' on June 30."
Neuharth criticized Bush's "cowboy culture" of shooting first and asking questions later, adding that "his total lack of postwar planning helped prompt the ongoing prison-abuse embarrassments and brutal retaliations."
He concluded: "Maybe Bush should take a cue from a fellow Texan, former president Lyndon Baines Johnson, who also had some cowboy characteristics.
"LBJ, after mismanaging the Vietnam War that so bitterly divided the nation and the world, decided he owed it to his political party and to his country not to run for re-election. So, he turned tail and rode off into the sunset of his Texas ranch.
"How do you say 'deja vu' in Cowboyese?"
Like The New York Times, however, the Chicago Tribune also offered a detailed assessment of the Iraq situation, before re-affirming its "stay-the-course" policy.
--E&P Staff