Saturday, November 18, 2006

Re-Framing the Iraq War


Michael Ledeen, The National Review Online considered the work of the Iraq study group and suggested that it rethink the question that it is considering.

Rather than ask how can we win the war in Iraq, they should consider the real question: How can we win the war in the Middle East, which now extends from Afghanistan to Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, and Somalia?
An excerpt:

'If we ask how to win in Iraq alone, we are led into a fool’s errand of trying to convince our sworn enemies–Iran has been at war with us for twenty-seven years—to act like friends."


The syrians and iranians, like all ME folks are shrewd, and canny. Iran and Syria may not have as much pull as Baker thinks they do. The Iranians and their death squads have not gone unnoticed by many Iraqis, insurgents and non-insurgents. But they know that Baker does not know that they know. In other words they will get what they need from him, and then surprise, they can't deliver anything, because the Iraqi insurgencies has taken a life of its own. Having the syrians and the Iranians milk the the Iraq war in many ways is more disatrous than what we're facing right now.

3 comments:

blank said...

Oh I can't wait to see that report!

blank said...

I can't wait to read that report!

A Jacksonian said...

Such wonderful thinkers, these 'Realists', they live in such a fine world where they would like a 'Reality' that somehow does not have a firm tie back to the actual, physical world in which we all exist.

They can't even give some idea of what it would take to get Peace in the Middle East... so I took my shot at that because no one else WILL.

But then those in power really can't figure out what the basic concept for fighting non-Nation State terrorist groups should be, either. Well, since they didn't want to, I did and put together some Goals on the Global War on Terror, because it really does need some goals not just hand waving and hot air.

So seeing as how these so-called 'Realists' have been unable to actually define the problem and put forth *real* goals and means to work towards them, perhaps it is time to finally let go of these concepts as their practitioners have proven to be one of the most inept lot Foreign Policy thinkers unable to even figure out how to define this problem or put forth goals... in the Middle East since 1948 and against Transnational Terrorism since 1979.