Helpful Iraqis Abandoned

Kirk Johnson is absolutely right (Hounded by Insurgents, abandoned by Us, New York Times, Wednesday, April 18, 2007). We must act expeditiously to help those Iraqis who helped us in the aftermath of the invasion. Our failure to do so imperils our current ability to win any other Iraqis to our side. No wonder the insurgency is blooming.

Alas, he places his trust in a weak reed. President Bush has, in the past few years, failed every test of leadership that he has confronted: the war, Katrina, Guantanamo, civil rights at home, stem cell research. In every case, his policies have been too little, too late.

In addition, with a few notable exceptions, he has filled the bureaucracy with ideologically sound placeholders rather than with experts. It is because of this that the bureaucracy runs so slowly, the placeholders aren't competent to make the kinds of decision that would enable them to really differentiate friend from foe and therefore be able to extend a helping hand to those sad Iraqis who cast in their lot with the United States.

Sent to New York Times