Having turned a major corner in Iraq, there are some real possibilities for the future of the Middle East. Sure, the setbacks were not always pleasant to hear about. Yes, there have been times I had my doubts on positive outcomes.
But overall pessimism has been replaced by optimism, thanks to Gen. Petraeus and the surge that many said would not work. This is the surge that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi once said would not, could not, and was not working. This is the one that Obama said he wouldn't support even now in the face of success.
This does not mean that all is won of course. But for some intelligent expostulation, VDH's weekly column examines the real possibilities of a stable constitutional Iraq can have on the region (with some considerable caveats, as well).
1 comment:
The debate is no longer whether Iraq is in a civil war. The debate should be whether there even is a war anymore.
Imagine the blow to American prestige if we'd followed the Democrats and nutless Republicans and "cut our losses." Since our image is so important, according to these people, do you think our image would be better if we'd left Iraq to descend into chaos and allowed AQI to declare victory? Of course it wouldn't. And it would handcuff us for years - or perhaps even increase the chance of military conflict - as no terrorist group or rogue nation would believe any threat of military action. Diplomacy would be even less effective than it is now.
Thank goodness for level-headed leaders like John McCain and David Petraeus. Thank goodness for clear-headed analysts like VDH. Thank goodness for this blog where I can rant about this crap....
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