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Random Thoughts on a Spring Day (Foreign Affairs
Edition)
Posted 4-16-2008
Why are the media and the Bush Administration
still trying to convince us "the Surge" is working? While the
immediate area where we sent more troops may have seen a
temporary decline in killing, the country of Iraq has never seen
an end to the violence.
The country is the size of California, with 25
million people, (23 million since 2 million became refugees
after we invaded), and we have 150,00 troops station there. Does
anyone really believe that we can control the situation?
The recent fighting in Basra showed not only the
ineptitude of the Iraqi government forces, but also the power of
the militias. They can initiate violence and bring it to a halt.
In this instance, the two Shiite militias with deep-seated
animosity were influenced by Iran to bring the fighting to a
halt, not by the USA.
So for all the hubris of Cheney and his ilk, it
is Iran that now plays a more influential role in Iraq than they
ever did before we invaded. So other than deposing Saddam
Hussein, what did we accomplish? We opened the door for the
Iranians (the supposed villains in the region) to be able to
have a large Shiite ally in Iraq.
Now I'm not a conspiracy nut, but could that
have been Cheney's goal all along in order to keep us in a
permanent state of war where we are dependent on his company,
Halliburton for billions of dollars of goods and services to
support our military?
As the Bush administration limps through its
final embarrassing months of governance, what do the three
Presidential candidates have to offer that is different from
Bush's failed strategies?
Does anyone think McCain will do much different?
He is a product of a subculture in our nation that glorifies
war, and one that actually believes we can still dictate to
other people how to think and act. People like McCain were
raised on a worldview that there always has to be a villain out
there. They expected that villain to be international communism
led by the Soviet Union. When communism collapsed some villain
had to emerge. Who better than the subset of the world's Muslim
religion that believe in a permanent "holy war" against
non-Muslims? International terrorists, that kill innocent people
elicit little sympathy and invoke much fear. But our fighting
them through a military strategy is now and will be fruitless.
Sure we may kill many terrorists, but all that does is incite
more young Muslims to become terrorists and the cycle of killing
will certainly continue.
There are many facets to the West's and to our
problems with Islam, including finding a resolution to problems
between modern Israel and the Palestinian people. But McCain has
not even suggested that he is willing to look at Iraq
differently and wonder if he would do nothing more than continue
the failed strategies of Bush and Cheney. I should qualify that
last statement because I think Cheney has gotten exactly what he
wants from the invasion.
I'm hopeful that either Democrat would be more
responsive to the public will and recognize the Catch-22 we are
in in Iraq. If we leave. there will be violence, and if we stay,
there is possibly less violence but Iraq never really prepares
itself for life after we end our military presence there. And I
would sure hope some leaders of our nation realize the idea of
us leaving our troops on foreign soil is a bad one.
The stationing of troops in Japan and Germany
after World War II was under much different circumstances than
leaving them in a country as volatile as Iraq. In neither of
those countries were internal struggles taking place like those
between Sunni and Shiite and internally between Shiite factions
as we just saw in Basra.
At some point very soon, Americans must begin to
look at our role in the world differently. The global economy
has changed things as well, and other nations do not feel
subordinate to us. If you want an example, look at how many
nations are truly fighting along side us in Iraq. Look at how
the NATO countries are not willing to venture into the most
dangerous parts of Afghanistan. If we want to be a world
"leader" that means others must be willing to follow. As it
stands now, our strategy in Iraq and, to a certain degree
Afghanistan, has caused us to be positioned pretty much alone.
I don't think our nation can afford to maintain
the philosophy that we can dictate to others how to think and
act. Iraq alone has cost us the lives of over 4,000 young
Americans, tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, thousands more
have been injured, and the war is costing us $343 million PER
DAY. With all the difficulties at home, from the housing market
to our crumbling roads and bridges, can we keep doing what we
have been doing and not make our country a more challenging
place for our children to live in peace and prosper?
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