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And now for something completely different
For a vigorous but subtle defense of HRC's and Obama's
position on withdrawing from Iraq read Steven Simon in the May/June foreign affair. Or for a taste just read this excerpt
<blockquote> The surge may have brought transitory
successes...........but it has done so by stoking the three
forces that have traditionally threatened the stability of Middle Eastern states:tribalism,warlordism , and sectarianism. States that have failed to control these forces have ultimately become ungovrernable, and (my underline)this is the fate for which the surge is preparing Iraq. A strategy intended to reduce casualties in the short term will ineluctably weaken the prospects for Itaq's cohesion over the long run.</blockquote>
position on withdrawing from Iraq read Steven Simon in the May/June foreign affair. Or for a taste just read this excerpt
<blockquote> The surge may have brought transitory
successes...........but it has done so by stoking the three
forces that have traditionally threatened the stability of Middle Eastern states:tribalism,warlordism , and sectarianism. States that have failed to control these forces have ultimately become ungovrernable, and (my underline)this is the fate for which the surge is preparing Iraq. A strategy intended to reduce casualties in the short term will ineluctably weaken the prospects for Itaq's cohesion over the long run.</blockquote>
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"Warlordism" is a word? Cool!
May 1, 2008 6:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Simon served on the National Security Council .
Maybe it's NSCspeak.
May 1, 2008 7:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for policy substance!
From the minute it was cobbled together, Iraq has been capable of flying apart in terrible ways.
I am so sad, and so sorry, that our country has made those terrible fractures even more dangerous. Some Americans actively approved, while others did far too little to stop it. But eventually, it was our government deciding, and it is our shared fault as a nation.
If I saw a way that we could make life truly safer for Iraqi families by risking more American lives and spending more American money, I'd think that was our duty.
But I don't see that path open before us, and I fear that our continuing presence just slows down the process of the Iraqis finding their way to something like stability.
What a terrible thing we have done.
May 1, 2008 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's some more of what Simon says.
May 1, 2008 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink