There has been some discussion of this Robert Novak column in which he thinks there will be a pull out from Iraq after the election if Bush wins a second term. I see his reasoning, but I do not think that would be a wise strategy on the face of it. Bush said we would be there until the job was done, no more and no less. It does not appear to me that the job is done if the job was to set Iraq on the course for liberty and democracy. Yes, they are moving in that direction, but will find it very difficult indeed if the insurgents continue to make trouble.
Perhaps the idea of allowing the civil war to happen would not be as deleterious as first assumed. At least it would establish the real pecking order, rather than some facade of order dictated by western powers. But I would hate to relegate the citizens of that country to what would most likely be a bloody affair just because we have tired of our initial commitment. I do get tired of the daily announcements of further deaths and bombings, but the way to move that in the right direction is to swat the insurgents down whenever they crop up. Do it hard and with some finality. The complaint I have with the current structure over there is that we have played too timid a game, all in the hopes of winning hearts and minds that will frankly never be there. Best do the hard things now and then let time settle the difference.
I think Jonah Goldberg says it well in his response to the article in NRO's The Corner.
I think it would be disastrous to leave for leaving's sake. Sure, if there's some way that we could leave and keep Iraq on course to stability and democracy, that'd be great. But I know of no technology nor of any replacement troops -- Iraqi or allied -- that could manage that.
I am sure Novak would love to see the supposed neo-conservative dream of advancing democracy across the world fail. In fact, I am not sure if this idea is even a tenable one, given the fact we still must pick and choose where to intervene depending on our interests. But this continued insistence by some that because there has been death since the war itself ended, that because our role and job there is far from easy, then we should either not have done it at all or should simply cut and run now. That would be irresponsible to the extreme. That is all.
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