Tuesday, May 09, 2006

An Examination Of Realisic Outcomes

From RCP, comes this article by Victor Davis Hansen entitled, The Prison of the Present. It highlights the conceptual struggle of idealism vs. realism, by objectively assessing the the outcomes of U.S. wars, both past and present. It's an excellent read.

Adding my take is simple.

Gulf War I spoiled people by making it look like that every war could be won without casualties and the stumbling blocks, that lead to them. The leftist anti-war crowd that screams for utter perfection has forgotten that the objective was simply to extract the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. Nothing more. Had NATO forces chosen to remove Saddam at that time, it could have been every bit as difficult, then, as it is now.

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of arrogance and miscalculation on the Defense Department's part. But, the objective of removing Saddam and allowing the Iraqi people a chance at democracy has been met. Whether is stays met or not, is another story. That's another chapter that hasn't been written yet.

But, as for whether or not Saddam will ever threaten anyone else again, that part has been decided. He won't. And that my friends, is a good thing.

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