There is a hefty chunk of America that is convinced that our military exploits in Iraq have done all they can do. I'm annoyed about the thoughtlessness and vapidity of the 'military' analysis of the Surge by the opposition, but at least they are aligned on the important principle that the solution is political. This of course begs the question of which politics are important. Not for us, but for Iraq.
It doesn't take much thought to realize that liberal doves and partisan Democrats want to put on their brass knuckles. Despite the fact that they have gotten rid of all the neocons and Rumsfeld and now they are piling on the Attorney General, they will keep throwing rocks at our windows until pieces of glass are stuck in our faces. This is understandable, expected and perhaps even inevitable. What isn't inevitable is the fate of Iraqis. And so while doves are preparing to grab whatever reigns are necessary for a swift exit from Iraq I wonder exactly how honorable it will be if commanded by the opponents to the war, and so the parlor question.
If such a thing can be explained in terms that are not precisely reactionary and spiteful to Bush, please explain to me. What kind of politics is good for Iraq?
This is something of a trick question. That is because the war, such as it is in the eyes of the opposition, is done. If everything American is bad for Iraq, we get out of Dodge ASAP and then what happens? The fighting stops? Democracy flowers? Oil flows? Iran decamps? Al Sadr shuts up? Maliki is satisfied? The Kurds watch Monday Night Football? The Turks do nothing? Samarra is rebuilt? Abu Ghraib is forgotten?
As with the Gulf War, Iraq will remain. Is it our responsibility or not? If so, without troops, what do we do for Iraq?
This is my roundabout way of asserting that the number of American troops in Iraq is not a pressing question, nor is the morality of war itself a pressing question if you haven't determined what political outcome is worthwhile. And the political outcome of Iraq desired by those in opposition (even at this late date, calling its very legality into question) seems to be something I cannot determine above the noise of partisans shouting down Bush.
Leave them to their own ways?
Give them money?
What should be done, for Iraqi politics, without American armed forces? I think very little. Which is why I'm still holding out for victory.
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