Using the term “wise men” with a British tongue-in-cheek, the Economist (UK) writes: “Don’t do it - The Baker-Hamilton group wants to set a date for leaving Iraq. George Bush should say no”
What will not help is scuttling from Iraq before exhausting every possible effort to put the country back together. The Baker-Hamilton group is right to say that America should neither leave precipitously nor stay forever. Leaning harder on Iraq's politicians is an excellent idea. But setting an arbitrary deadline of early 2008 for most of the soldiers to depart risks weakening America's bargaining power, intensifying instead of dampening the fighting and projecting an image of weakness that will embolden enemies everywhere. On this recommendation, Mr Bush needs to insist on his prerogatives as custodian of America's foreign policy and just say no.As usual, a balanced and incisive analysis from the Economist. Read the whole thing.
2 comments:
What's so incisive about the Economist's standard "if this... however that... on the other hand, this and that... it must be noted... still, in fairness... steps must be taken... but consideration is needed... in principle, yes... but much remains to be seen" template?
They use it for every other topic, and it'll never, ever turn out to be wrong for any topic. That's not balance, that's paraplegia.
The reason Baker and company suggest setting a date is that it is not going to work to make withdrawal contingent on any meaningful foreign policy goal within Iraq itself. This is about cutting US losses, extracting us from this mess and trying to protect America's interests in the region through workable means. An inclusive Iraqi democracy is not going to happen when the groups involved are intolerant of the opposing side and are willing to kill and die in the name of making their own factions dominant. Militant Islamism is fueled by the presence of "infidel" American troops in Iraq, and when the militants are killed they become martyrs that inspire others to follow their example. Iraq has grown less stable since the day America took it over and it grows less stable every day America remains.
America's military is the best in the world and is very good at kicking ass, but by our very nature and history we are not good at colonialism. That really isn't a bad thing, but it's why we were able to roll in comparitively easily but then got our nuts stuck in a vice when we hung around too long trying to build a nation that conforms to our vision.
Baker was part of the crew that took this position when it was suggested that the US invade Iraq during the first Gulf war:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/bushsr-iraq.htm
They were right then. Trust them now.
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