Topic: Political Rant
So . . . what do we do now? I think most sane people who are not clouding their judgment with silly political mumbo-jumbo acknowledge that things are going very badly in Iraq. The question is, what can the U.S. and its allies do about it?
More Funding for the Reconstruction. Some would argue that if the reconstruction is expanded and hastened, the people of Iraq would see the benefits of supporting the new government. I don't think this will work. The US has only spent 32% of the $18.4 billion appropriated by Congress in late 2003. Even if Congress did appropriate more funding today, clearly the funds wouldn't help the Iraqi people for a few years.
International Support. For the most part, the international community seems unwilling to help the U.S. States in Iraq. Although some countries (such as Denmark and Japan) are offering help, Iraq is largely America and England's problem because they decided to go in on their own. Kerry's weak belief that he could enlist substantial support from other countries like France and Germany is a fool's dream. These countries have already made up their mind about Iraq; they don't want to get involved.
Arab Support. For a while, I thought that perhaps Iraq is a problem that could be solved by Arabs, but will neighboring Arab countries be willing to fully support a fledging democracy that threatens their autocratic style of governing?
More Troops. Adding more US soldiers troops may improve the security situation in the short-term, but it could also easily backfire. No one wants to see foreign troops on their soil, especially the Iraqis who have dealt with occupation forces since early 2003. Adding more troops could encourage more Iraqis (and other Arabs in the region) to view the insurgency as a battle of liberation against foreign troops. While it may have been a good idea to send more troops in mid-2003, it is no longer a wise idea. Complete Pull Out. The insurgents don't simply focus on killing Americans any more; they also focus on poll workers, locals working for international aid organizations, police officers, Iraqi soldiers, politicians . . . in other words, the "bad guys" are killing average Iraqis, which makes the situation way more complicated than it was in early 2003. Considering the determination of the bad guys to overthrow the new Iraqi government and the fragile state of the Iraqi security forces, without some US military muscle, the new government could easily collapse. If the US and its military allies left today, there is an unsettling possibility that this country would come apart at the seams and slip into a civil war, possibly throwing the whole region into a large conflict. A civil war might happen anyway, but don't the Americans owe it to the Iraqi people to give the new Iraqi government a chance to create a stable government able to defend its people?
Continuing with the Bush Administration's existing plan is a pathway to failure, but clearly I can't find a workable alternative. Does anyone else have any serious proposals for fixing this mess?
Posted by alohafromtim
at 12:45 AM EDT
Updated: July 7, 2005 5:06 AM EDT
