I haven't commented on the mess in Iraq, mostly because there are a lot of other folks doing so, and adding my voice to the crowd seemed pointless. If you want good analysis, go see Professor Cole; for a more angry look at it, try Billmon. If you're not sure you believe what you hear from CENTCOM (I'm old enough to remember the crap that came out of what was called The Five O'Clock Follies in Vietnam) and would rather read some facts from the ground, try Riverbend and Zayed. If you want to know how other Iraqis see it, use the links at the latter two sites. Josh Marshall is in e-mail touch with a civilian contractor over there; his (the contractor's) view is pretty dark.
A year ago I said this was the wrong war. I hate being proved right about such a thing, but it looks like I have been. There's plenty of blame to go around, but it starts at the top and moves right down to Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Libby and all their sycophants like David Brooks, Bill Kristol, and all those other folks who thought war against a country which had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of September 11 was a good idea. Now the United States is, if anything, even more fervently hated by the Islamic world than it had been a year ago, more estranged from our former allies, and deeply imbedded in a country which doesn't want us there. If we invade Najaf, we may see the equivalent of September 11 once a month. I've heard the city called "The Shi'a Vatican;" imagine what would happen if the Pope's home was invaded by an army from Syria or Egypt.
We've found no WMDs, installed no democracy in Iraq, put one murderous tin-pot dictator who was no threat to us in custody, and we have ~650 dead Americans, another ~3,500 wounded, God knows how many dead Iraqis, and a whole slew of brand-new recruits to the cause of America's destruction. That cause, by the way, was led by Osama bin Laden, in case you've forgotten; last I looked, he wasn't in custody or anywhere close to it.
Well done, Mr. President.
Posted by Linkmeister at April 13, 2004 08:31 PMIt makes me sad. Having lost a spouse in the first Gulf War, I hurt for those families who have lost. I was lucky; I didn't see the dissent, doubt, and hatred that we see now. (I'm not saying it wasn't there; I'm saying I didn't see it.)
Of course, the first one was “over” in less than six months. This one have been going on over a year.
I don’t see a way out of this. GWB doesn’t either.
Q: “Mr. President, who will we be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30th?”
A: “We'll find that out soon. That's what Mr. Brahimi is doing. He's figuring out the nature of the entity we'll be handing sovereignty over.”
By my watch, it’s April 15; GWB is saying that there is no firm plan for the transfer of power?
Sigh.
It's scary that there's no firm plan. Even if there was, there's no room for flexibility -- June 30th or Bust!
Nice post, Steve, as always. I've been nattering on and on, as you know, because I just can't let it go. All the people you point to for must-reads are on my list, and I wish more folks would read them. Cole is nothing short of brilliant.
Posted by: Scott at April 14, 2004 04:23 AMTo amend for grammatical and factual errors—“this one *has* been going on for over a year” and it’s April 14th
(repeat to self) No posting before caffeine. No posting before caffeine.
grr
Posted by: shelley at April 14, 2004 10:05 AM