What Would Victory Look Like?
Monday, I suggested that we win the war in Iraq. We need to ask the question, however, what that victory would look like.
Many in our country believe this military engagement was unnecessary in the first place. Others believe that it was poorly planned and poorly executed. Still others believe that it has been joined using halfway measures or with goals and objectives that have been ambiguous.
Whatever happens in the war in Iraq, it is highly doubtful that terrorism will be eradicated by this one effort. We still must contend with Iran, various Palestinian cell groups, Syria, and North Korea. And these enemies aren't just going to go away, even if we are successful in establishing a stable and largely democratic government in Iraq.
So what would victory in Iraq look like? That's a question that nobody has yet clarified for the American people.
Straight ahead! See my blog at: www.noblindbluff.blogspot.com
posted by Daniel Berry @ 1/25/2007 04:43:00 AM
1 Comments:
At 1/25/2007 01:06:00 PM ,
Anonymous said...
To understand victory, you have to understand the real reason for going to war. The Bush Administration believes that planting seeds of democracy and capitalism throughout the Middle East will eventually grow and cause neighboring citizens to say, "Wow look at what they have - freedom, prosperity, etc." Eventually, monarchies and dictatorships are replaced by democracies. And with prosperity, you erode populace support for radical sects and terrorism. The strategy was brilliant when confronting communism even though we faced severe set backs in Korea and Vietnam.
The problem is that Afghanistan doesn't have the natural resources or wealth for this to happen so the US had to look elsewhere and Iraq was the obvious choice. But you can't sell regime change by saying, "Let's replace governments." So the US had to come up with other reasons for going to war. Big mistake, because the fixation of the US citizens and media fell on weapons of mass destruction.
The problem that we face today is that our enemies (Iran, Syria, the terrorists, the Sunnis, etc.) know that if a democratic/capitalistic model is successful, their power will crumble. So they have to fight progress and kill Iraqis to weaken US resolve.
Victory has been and continues to be a healthy democratic and prosperity leader in the region.
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