Obama: Don’t stay in Iraq over genocide:
“Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn’t a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there.”
Obama states that if we use the logic of responsibility, then we should be in the Congo and the Sudan to prevent and stop genocide. But there is a fundamental flaw in his reasoning. Right now, we are not causing the problem in Sudan or the Congo. I can see an argument that we need to be doing more to help the situation - whether that is unilateral military, military as part of a larger organization, greater support for International African troops, or stronger diplomacy. But the point is that we are not causing the problem.
If we pull out of Iraq prematurely we will be causing the problem. See the difference? We would share culpability for what follows. Because we have acted, justly or unjustly, by entering Iraq, we are responsible for much more than if we were merely observers.
It can be hard for people who preach the politics of irresponsibility to understand duty.
