Post #15

Winning in Iraq… for dummies!

The way to win in Iraq is so simple and obvious. Unfortunately, George W. Bush cannot see the way out of the forest for the trees of neo-con lunacy. As plainly stated by Bush, our troops will continue to be slaughtered in Iraq until he leaves office.

The first thing we need is an honest full debate of what our national interests are. Say what you will about Bush’s stated reasons for invading Iraq, apologize for Bush’s faulty intelligence, I think everyone can agree that there was not a full disclosure of evidence, pro and con. As Pat Buchanan said on The McLaughlin Group, Bush acted as a prosecutor – picking and choosing evidence to support his case. Did Bush run for President or prosecutor-in-chief!?! :p

OK, so what are our national interests?

WMD – or stopping the spread thereof. Before Bush invaded Iraq, I said his policy of “pre-emptive war” was wrong – not only is it wrong to start fights, nobody likes a bully, but the first time he is wrong will limit our ability, both with domestic and international support, to launch other pre-emptive wars which might even be more necessary. Oh, what a difference if there had of been WMD in Iraq!

9/11 – bringing justice to those who caused it. “No distinction between terrorist organizations and the governments that harbor them.” I still support our troops in Afghanistan rooting out Al-Qaeda training camps. I supported that mission on 9/12 and still do – despite Bush’s bungling of that job too!

Democracy – and the spread thereof. NO! Democracy does NOT bloom at gunpoint. The march of liberty is a wonderful thing and should be nurtured and supported. But no force – democracy has never bloomed at gunpoint, and there is no reason to think it will now.

Fightin’ ‘em on the streets of Baghdad instead of Main Street – does anybody really believe that anymore? Did the terrorists who plotted to blow up planes over the Atlantic have Baghdad addresses? It seems to me that killing tens of thousands of Arabs on TV is NOT helping us.

What, then, are our national interests in Iraq?

Well, we broke it – do we fix it… or leave it? After WWI, we left. Of course, the aftermath of WWI led to WWII. We fixed the aftermath of WWII. But we broke Vietnam and left without WWIII breaking out. I doubt the Weasels in Washington – including George Weasel Bush – can understand such a simple straight-forward concept, especially when the concept makes them look like self-serving fools! But we broke Iraq….

I plan for my next post to be a look at the costs of fixing or leaving….