What is winning?
The President keeps exhorting us to "stay the course" or "adapt to win" or whatever the latest focus-group tested marketing strategy is in Iraq. I have no idea what he means; I don't know what "winning" would be in his mind. I suppose having a tame client-state in Iraq sending all their oil to us cheaply would qualify, but that seems fairly unlikely.
So, what would "winning" look like to me? If I could suddenly take over, what would I do? Sure, it would be great if there were a genuine liberal democracy in Iraq, and it spread so that the Middle East was just one big happy, peaceful family, but I have no clue how to accomplish that, and neither do the neo-cons. So, what is achievable?
First, I'd recognize that there are limits to American power, no matter how technologically advanced our military is. There are some things that just can't be achieved through violent force, and building a democracy is one of them.
Next, I'd admit that Iraq is already in the middle of civil war, and that it probably would take a whole lot more boots on the ground to change that. Even more important, though, is a clear mission. Right now, I have no idea what the mission is in Iraq, but I'd focus the mission on peacekeeping, as we did in Bosnia. Iraq, like the former Yugoslavia, consists of multiple tribes who were held together only by the brutal force of a dictator. Take the dictator away, and the tribes fly apart; our job should be to contain the violence of the process, not necessarily to dictate what the process should be.
Finally, and this is the least likely of all to ever happen, I'd admit we were wrong. We were wrong to invade a sovereign country preemptively. We were wrong to use torture and to evade the Geneva Conventions. We were wrong.
I still believe that the US can be a major influence in the Middle East, but whether our influence is for peace or more conflict depends on the degree to which we approach the region with some humility. Despite overheated rhetoric about "Islamofascists", the truth is, our country's survival, our way of life, even our safety from terrorists is not really at risk in Iraq. If we could concede that we have made many mistakes in this region since we became a world power, and try not to keep repeating them over and over, maybe we really could bring some stability to what has long been a troubled region.
All of which is about as likely as my getting the opportunity to be in charge....
So, what would "winning" look like to me? If I could suddenly take over, what would I do? Sure, it would be great if there were a genuine liberal democracy in Iraq, and it spread so that the Middle East was just one big happy, peaceful family, but I have no clue how to accomplish that, and neither do the neo-cons. So, what is achievable?
First, I'd recognize that there are limits to American power, no matter how technologically advanced our military is. There are some things that just can't be achieved through violent force, and building a democracy is one of them.
Next, I'd admit that Iraq is already in the middle of civil war, and that it probably would take a whole lot more boots on the ground to change that. Even more important, though, is a clear mission. Right now, I have no idea what the mission is in Iraq, but I'd focus the mission on peacekeeping, as we did in Bosnia. Iraq, like the former Yugoslavia, consists of multiple tribes who were held together only by the brutal force of a dictator. Take the dictator away, and the tribes fly apart; our job should be to contain the violence of the process, not necessarily to dictate what the process should be.
Finally, and this is the least likely of all to ever happen, I'd admit we were wrong. We were wrong to invade a sovereign country preemptively. We were wrong to use torture and to evade the Geneva Conventions. We were wrong.
I still believe that the US can be a major influence in the Middle East, but whether our influence is for peace or more conflict depends on the degree to which we approach the region with some humility. Despite overheated rhetoric about "Islamofascists", the truth is, our country's survival, our way of life, even our safety from terrorists is not really at risk in Iraq. If we could concede that we have made many mistakes in this region since we became a world power, and try not to keep repeating them over and over, maybe we really could bring some stability to what has long been a troubled region.
All of which is about as likely as my getting the opportunity to be in charge....
1 Comments:
You can't win if you don't run, right?
By Pavel Curtis, at 6:37 PM
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