AT THIS STAGE, WE JUST CAN'T START OVER
As much as I respect Charles Krauthammer for his words of wisdom and source of endless wit, I'm a little concerned about his latest column piece.
In his words, he says, "they [US] must establish a new governing coalition in Baghdad that excludes Moqtada al-Sadr, a cancer that undermines the Maliki government's ability to work with us. It is encouraging that the president has already begun such a maneuver by meeting with rival Shiite and Sunni parliamentary leaders. If we help produce a cross-sectarian government that would be an ally rather than a paralyzed semi-adversary of coalition forces, we should then undertake part two: "double down" our military effort. This means a surge in American troops with a specific mission: to secure Baghdad and (together with the support of the Baghdad government - an essential condition) suppress Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The problem with the first part is that we are essentially telling everyone: "Hell, we fudged up, and so we have to hit the 'reset' button on this war's version of the Playstation 2; thus asking everyone to go back to the way things were."
Secondly, we can no longer reach across the divide and try to bridge cultural and religious differences in Iraq. That's been done already on so many fronts since the invasion--that it has failed!
And lastly, we've already tried three times this past year to secure Baghdad with a surge of troops. Remember? It failed miserably!
So what makes Charles believe that a third try is the charm--if the reality of this war has shown that nothing we've done these last 4 years has had any positive impact on the way this country's affairs has been mismanaged to date?
Schuyler Thorpe
xxxth Street xx #X001
Everett, WA 98204
(XXX)-XXX-XXXX
In his words, he says, "they [US] must establish a new governing coalition in Baghdad that excludes Moqtada al-Sadr, a cancer that undermines the Maliki government's ability to work with us. It is encouraging that the president has already begun such a maneuver by meeting with rival Shiite and Sunni parliamentary leaders. If we help produce a cross-sectarian government that would be an ally rather than a paralyzed semi-adversary of coalition forces, we should then undertake part two: "double down" our military effort. This means a surge in American troops with a specific mission: to secure Baghdad and (together with the support of the Baghdad government - an essential condition) suppress Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The problem with the first part is that we are essentially telling everyone: "Hell, we fudged up, and so we have to hit the 'reset' button on this war's version of the Playstation 2; thus asking everyone to go back to the way things were."
Secondly, we can no longer reach across the divide and try to bridge cultural and religious differences in Iraq. That's been done already on so many fronts since the invasion--that it has failed!
And lastly, we've already tried three times this past year to secure Baghdad with a surge of troops. Remember? It failed miserably!
So what makes Charles believe that a third try is the charm--if the reality of this war has shown that nothing we've done these last 4 years has had any positive impact on the way this country's affairs has been mismanaged to date?
Schuyler Thorpe
xxxth Street xx #X001
Everett, WA 98204
(XXX)-XXX-XXXX
posted by Schuyler Thorpe | 10:17 PM
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