The piece by E. J. Dionne, Jr. in today's WaPo on his "Big Bang Theory" for the Middle East and the Iraq war is a must read. As he points out, the focus of how to proceed in Iraq shouldn't be on whether those supporting or condemning President's Bush's policy are "tough" or "soft," but the focus should be on the Bush administration "who set a failed policy in motion and keep promising, despite the evidence, that it will somehow pay off if only we 'stay the course.' "
Amen!
One other thing to contemplate, by removing Saddam from power, we took away Iran's long-standing enemy and enabled them, and radical Islam, to get their foothold in Iraq.... and reinforced Iran's position as terrorism central. And, limited our options and ability to respond to new threats like latest Middle East eruption.
The question has become, should we stay to try to clean up the mess we have made of Iraq. With the history of the region, that could take centuries and countless lives and treasure.
That will be the Bush legacy.
2 comments:
Dionne is right about the consequences of the war but he is wrong about the motivations of the war and horribly wrong that the spread of democracy justifies an otherwise avoidable war.
Anon, I couldn't agree more about the "nation building" agenda of the Bush administration.... especially when Bush campaigned on just the opposite approach.
The spread of Democracy will come by example, and it will take generations to repair the destructive example set by the Bush administration.
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