By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.
While some of the goals seem wonderful, others are either ridiculous or just wrong. Even if you agree with all of the goals, the rest of the speech gives no indication of any new initiatives to get there. Essentially, he wants to continue the Bush policies in Iraq but somehow will achieve these radically different. It reminds me of the old definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again, hoping to get different results.
My only hope is that the American public doesn't elect this man... doing the same thing over yet again, hoping to get different results.
2 comments:
Hmm, not 100 years now, but ONLY 5 more. That's 6 more than the U.S. was in WWII!
And isn't this a timetable? I thought giving timetables was supposed to aid the terrorists? Flip-flop!
The extent of the mendacity is evident in the line "...al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated."
Al-Q, who only became a major force in Iraq because of the invasion, will have had a decade to run rampant in the country? Nice one. Of course, there is no mention of the wider issues of Islamism around the world, or addressing the more fundamental reasons of what fuels that kind of localism.
Post a Comment