The American Spectator

p> WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS br> Re: Philip Klein’s Anatomy of a Withdrawal : /p>

Though he concedes that “we’ll never know what would have happened had the U.S. Marines stayed in Lebanon,” Mr. Klein tendentiously suggests that American withdrawal from Lebanon in 1984 directly contributed to the growth of Hezbollah, emboldened al Qaeda, and increased terrorism in the Middle East and Africa. I don’t think that he has made an adequate case for the supposed lessons to be learned from this episode vis a vis Iraq. The possibility that American forces could have made a permanent difference for the better in Lebanon is just as much a hypothesis as it is now in Iraq. In my opinion, this pie-in-the-sky thinking is overwhelmed by the immediate intractable problems associated with the American presence.

We have precipitated a humanitarian crisis, with millions of refugees and an estimated 40,000 orphans. Above all, there are hundreds of thousands of wounded and dead. Our continued presence is most likely to produce similar results. We as a nation do not have sufficient military or financial resources or international support to guarantee the success and stability of a democratic government in Iraq. It is therefore excessively optimistic to think that staying in Iraq is on balance better than leaving.

p>I found it interesting that the current president is essentially following the same script as Reagan. I hope that Bush will find the wisdom and courage to admit his failure and accept the withdrawal of our troops. br> — Abe Grossman br> Pleasantville, New York /p> p> BLAME GAME