“American prestige is no small thing. Loss of American prestige as a result of Vietnam, the Iran hostage crisis, Somalia and the bombing of the US Embassy in Lebanon emboldened Osama bin Laden to bomb the World Trade Center. Loss of American prestige gives Kim Jong Il the idea that he can test his nukes with impunity. Loss of American prestige tells the mullahs in Iran that no one and nothing can stop them from acquiring nukes and arming Hezbollah and Hamas”. –Rachel, in a post titled, I’m Disgusted
Iran and North Korea have learned lessons from Iraq, but the lessons are the opposite of what the Bush Administration see.
There were three countries that consisted of the “Axis of Evil” that Bush created. Iraq, Iran and North Korea. One of those countries, Iraq was invaded and they had no nucleur weapons. The other two countries feel that must get nucleur weapons in order to avoid invasion. Neither country was actively developing nuceur weapons for several years before being labeled evil.
I am not sure how the Iraq War has done anything but emboldened terrorists. All of the governmental studies that have been leaked to the media have said so. The fact that our enemies have created the instability they have sought could do nothing but embolden them. Having a foreign army on their soil could do nothing but stir anger at the USA. Our inability to provide basic services like electicity and security could do nothing but turn Iraqis against us. The deaths and mutilations of hundreds of thousands of their countrymen could do nothing but turn them against us. The Abu Graib images that other Muslims in the Middle East saw on their own media networks could do nothing but inflame terrorists. These terrorist are suicide bombers, they are not afraid to die. We need to change the hearts and minds of the Middle East, unfortunatley we are changing them against us.
I don’t know what the answer in Iraq is. I agree that we can’t just leave while the country is in flames. But despite what Laura Bush and Rummy tell us while we fly over iraq, thing are getting worse every day we are there and we are emboldening our enemies everyday as the Sunni insurgents and foreign Al-Quada stir the chaos they have been seeking. It is emboldening our shiaa enemies in the militias like al-Sadr who effectively run the country now under their puppet al-Maliki. It emboldens Iran to know that they have a neighboring country and one of the few other Shiaa nantions slipping into their control.
I think in this case there are two alternatives as Tom Friedman says 10 months or 10 years. I don’t think that a 6 month increase of 25,000 troops as the Administration seems to be feeling out is going to really make much of a difference given the fact as General Powell has stated that our equipment is failing due to a lack of resources to repair them and our soldiers are fatigued. In order to win this we probably need to commit a couple of 100K more troops as the Generals like Shinseki first recommended before Rumsfeld fired him.
To add hundreds of thousands of troops is goingt o take a draft obviously given that the volunteer troops are laready too thin. Is this really even realistic, this war has already gone on longer than our involvement in WWII and closing in on the Civil War. If we were in the position 4 years into the Civil War, WWII or WWI could we have honestly felt we could have drafted a few 100K more soldiers. Its not easy to send our sons and daughters into a war that the New Defense Secreteray even said we are not winning.