In his Feb. 28 column, Zaid Jilani showed he lacks complete understanding of the political situations in the United States and around the world.

First, consider Jilani’s impeachment event. It appears Jilani does not fully understand what impeachment means.

To impeach the president – which would not lead necessarily to his removal from office – would indicate the president has committed some criminal act, which is just not the case.

I assume Jilani feels the president should be impeached because of the war, but there is no law against declaring war, which he did with Congress’ initial approval.

Only recently, when public opinion has changed about Iraq, has Congress bent to fit the public opinion.

Let’s get another thing straight. The only people committing mass murder in the Middle East are the Middle Easterners.

Jilani acts as though if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, conflict between Sunnis and Shiites magically will go away and everyone will get along.

What Jilani fails to recognize is, although our military is being attacked, we’re not the targets – they are.

The sectarian conflict between the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds is a longstanding battle that isn’t going away. The bombs aren’t concentrated to our bases, but in markets, schools, hospitals and public areas to kill each other.

The radical Muslims kill women, children and the elderly indiscriminately. Even in the last week, more dirty bombs are being used not only to inflict death, but also severe pain and suffering.

A chlorine gas bomb was used recently that killed two and left 32 in a hospital coughing for air.

These aren’t the acts of people fighting occupancy, but murderers – and it’s their own people they’re killing.

Next is Iran, which Jilani holds in such high regard.

He claims Iran “has never been an aggressor in its existence.” Maybe he has forgotten Ahmadinejad’s calls to wipe Israel from the face of the Earth or his denial of the Holocaust.

So why does Jilani care if Iran is compared to Nazi Germany? They didn’t do anything wrong, right?

But let’s not forget about Ahmadinejad’s involvement in the Iran Hostage Crisis, his refusal to halt his nuclear program (despite demands made by the United Nations), Iran’s overt support for the militant Hezbollah and the allegations he is feeding the insurgency in Iraq, among other things.

Whether you believe Ahmadinejad knowingly is condoning these actions or not, the bombs and weapons being used to kill innocent people are being manufactured in Iran (“U.S. Says Raid in Iraq Supports Claim on Iran” NYT.com, Feb. 25).

So how is it Iran “has never been an aggressor”?

Lastly, the war in Iraq is not an easy situation for anyone.

President Bush wants to get out of there just as much as anyone else, but he recognizes the truth of the situation: if we leave now, the country will descend into total chaos with an all-out civil war between different sects inside the country.

The real humanitarian thing to do is for the U.S. to remain in Iraq until peace between the religious sects is achieved. Otherwise, you’ll see more killing, deaths and murders with no one to stop it.

The Sunnis see their influence diminishing – because they are the clear minority in Iraq – after their repressive leader was ousted.

Now, they’ll do anything they can to keep what power they have, even if it involves strapping a bomb to themselves and leveling a market or school.

- Jackson Elam is a junior from Martinez majoring in biology