By WAM
Dubai : On the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, the ground reality in Iraq could no longer tolerate indefinite answers, vague policies, and blurred action plans as far as the future of the country is concerned, a UAE paper commented Thursday.
”Iraq should by now have progressed in attaining the foundations of a democratic state, governed by the rule of law and not be characterised by instability under the rule of occupation,”wrote the Gulf News in its editorial for today.
”Recent comments of senior American officials indicate the lack of a long-term plan in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, US Commander in Iraq, announced his intention to stop US troop withdrawals in July because of the “fragile” security gains, ”the paper said.
“We haven’t turned any corners; we haven’t seen any lights at the end of the tunnel… And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible,” said Petraeus in his testimony to the US Senate armed services committee.
But the question here, the paper added, is not about reducing the 160,000 US troops by about a third by the end of George W. Bush’s presidential term.
Confining the debate to the number of troops staying in or leaving Iraq is an immature simplification of the matter.
”The American administration today does not have any definitive answers as to how long its endeavours in Iraq will last. Neither does it bring to the fore a detailed roadmap that addresses in detail how the country is to rebuild its future, attain stability, and bring about a conclusive end to the cycle of violence.
”It is dangerous to have a situation that is open-ended and without any definitive solutions or answers,” the paper warned.
”A state as such would prove costly for the Iraqi people on the political as well as the humanitarian levels. That an American policy is in disarray is critical – but that the policy is without any plans for the future is fatally disastrous,”he concluded.