When it's Time to Pull Out

Tensions in the United States have been boiling over about the war in Iraq, but Britain’s recent maneuver to restrict their involvement leads to questioning the progression of the war.

Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on February 21 that 1,600 of the already 7,100 British troops placed in Southern Iraq will vacate. By the summer an additional 500 might be pulled out as well. Currently, British troops account for half of the 14,000 non-U.S. troops.

Blair said the sectors of British placement have improved even though they are still dangerous. He told Parliament that British troops in Basra are facing a very different scene than the U.S. troops in Baghdad. Blair even went as far as saying Baghdad has “an orgy of terrorism.” At the very least, Blair has given fuel to his ally’s campaign for increasing American troops, so Bush can’t be too upset.

Political pressure on Blair was very strong to disconnect Britain from the war on Iraq as much as possible, so his decision isn’t overly surprising. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “The announcement by the British government confirms the doubts in the minds of American people about the president’s decision to increase the number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.”

Whether Basra is ready for a decrease in British troops is uncertain. However, the Iraqi forces are eager to take control of the area. The most important element to setting up a stable Iraq is letting Iraqis take control of the situation. If Iraqis are not given the opportunity to lead their country then we are doing more harm than help. Violence has increased since U.S. involvement began, with many innocent lives being lost, so it is time to decide what the next tactic should be.

Complete withdrawal doesn’t seem to be the answer, but sending more troops is unnecessary at this point. Continuing to increase troops will further the U.S. presence and promote violence. The Pentagon recently released their quarterly report that showed an increase in Iraq casualties by 51% over the last four months. Also, civilian and military deaths have exceeded 3,000 every month since May. Something is not going right in Iraq and Bush’s plan needs to be halted before more U.S. soldiers get sent into a mishandled war.

Bush is demanding for more troops, while he is not facing the true problems. Without Iraq solving Iraq’s problems the war will never cease. Removing U.S. forces out in a strategic method should be the new direction of military action. U.S. military action alone can not maintain Iraq. The political aspects of Iraq need to be dealt with.

Focusing on the political powers and how they need to establish better relations with each other is vital. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski during a speech said, “They must go beyond their sectarian interests to take on extremists, establish effective national institutions, and stop corruption. The solution in Iraq requires a political solution from Iraqis, not military muscle from Americans.”

Sections of Iraq are still in a bleak state, but the answer is to pull out our military. The healing process will begin when Iraqi politics can be effectively balanced. Without healthy politics in Iraq it will not become stabilized. If Iraq can’t balance itself out in the end then there is not much the U.S. military can really do.

When Marketing Becomes Terrorism

In these days of fear, what can be construed as an “act of terrorism” seems to be more widespread than ever before. All you have to do is place a bunch of magnetic “Mooninite” Lite-Brite resembling objects throughout a city.

On January 31, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens came to the attention of the Boston and national media. Police in Boston greatly misunderstood guerilla marketing tactics as a form of terrorism. The electronic light boards were placed all over Boston in eye catching spots by placing magnetic strips on the back of each panel. When a cartoon character flipping the bird becomes terrorism, we all need to be worried.

Oddly enough these signs were placed in various other cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Apparently, other cities didn’t see these signs as an act of terrorism. Besides, the signs were lit up in Boston for almost three weeks according to Turner Broadcasting Systems, the company which owns Cartoon Network.

If these truly were bombs, hopefully Boston wouldn’t have waited two to three weeks before they investigated. After that amount of time it seems more likely that they would have blown up. Still, LED signs shouldn’t be signaling a caution light, even if a Mooninite is flipping you off. The inevitable question is, why would a terrorist make bombs light up? Isn’t the point to blow something up without letting everyone know weeks ahead of time?

Now Turner is going to pay $2 million to settle the case. Oddly enough, the artists were charged, but the companies weren’t. Jim Samples, head of Cartoon Network, even resigned due to the situation. Through this there is something to be learned; you can never know these days what might be considered an act of terrorism.

Quickly browsing the internet you’ll get the impression that most of the country seems to be taking this as a joke. Videos on youtube.com are poking fun at the situation and bloggers are saying that Boston needs to “lighten up.” When a company is faced with trying to develop a marketing campaign in a culture saturated with ads telling you what you need, can you really blame Turner? Guerilla marketing would stand out more than some thirty second television ad. Unfortunately, this clever idea ended up costing them, but did ultimately lead to national media attention. This would, in essence, make it a truly successful advertisement ploy.

Boston police seem to be the party truly at fault. If you are going to shut down your city near rush hour, you better make sure of what you’re doing. Yes, the security and safety of a city is of the highest importance, but act according to the situation. Lite-Brites shouldn’t trigger the deployment of bomb squads. Seeing bomb squads take these down must have been interesting and they probably didn’t appreciate to be called on for such a nuisance. At least we know they are ready if there is ever a real threat.

After this guerilla marketing campaign more could follow. As the Mooninites have said, “We do whatever we want, to whomever we want, at all times,” so you better watch out.