
Originally Posted by
Seamus Fermanagh
However, if:
The American public is collectively saying "we will not support a difficult policy that costs us lives and treasure without producing a definitive result within the space of one administration" -- an interpretation I fear to be accurate -- then the USA is marginalizing itself as a power, as an ally, and as an active promoter of Western-style freedom and democracy. If you are not willing to expend the lives of your military to achieve political objectives, you will give ground to those who will.
Yup. I hate to see the U.S. making mistakes, but I hate to see the country turn its back on its firmest commitments even more.
My true Master, I must confess, is not Baäl-Zebub, Lord of the Flies (Book of Kings II, 1:2-8), but Anthony Cordesman, He of Superior Standing in U.S. Iraq Policy-Making Circles.
Cordesman regularly produces reports, fact sheets, briefs and press brfiefings for CSIS on the situation. I have come to respect him as an expert of profound political insight. Cordesman has recently given a briefing in connection with the Iraq Study Group process. He stressed hat the situation on the ground in Iraq is far, far worse than the White House will admit and that it is needlessly compounded by a lack of leadership in Washington, and this on both sides of the aisle. However, the worst 'solution' for everyone concerned would be to find the easy way out:
This is a time which to have any hope of succeeding, you are going to need a level of leadership which admits the risk, the costs, and past mistakes. That is a choice for the administration to make. I do think it is perhaps unfair to say that the administration has not actively sought to deal
with many of the problems I am raising. If it has exaggerated its successes and understated the causes of its problems, it has talked about a sustained effort, about a long war.
We don’t know what the efforts are going on in the joint staff or the National
Security Council, but I think they are based on a high degree of realism, at least as to the scale of the problem. I am much more concerned about the realism over the need for economic aid to fix the Iraqi force development effort to be more objective there.
I think, too, one of the problems when we talk about the Congress is the Congress has not yet met, the leadership has not taken strong positions. When you look at some of the most important people of the new Congress, like Senator Biden, they have put forward ideas, but they have also talked about the need to be flexible and responsive, and set priorities that look beyond the immediate moment.
I think this is going to be a real crisis for American society. If all we do is react to past failures by trying to find the easiest way out, or some simply option we can use as at least an excuse, then we necessarily will make things far worse.
Interesting stuff
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