The War of Wills (my response)

August 28, 2007

I want to applaud Greta for her wonderful post below. I also want to thank her for always giving others a voice. Personally, I am very torn over Iraq. On the one hand our family has had a personal stake in this war (my husband has deployed twice and we have known soldiers who have been wounded and soldiers who have died in Iraq). On the other hand I have some very real concerns about mistakes that have been made and where we go from here.

1. Isolationists – Given our experience in Iraq it’s not unreasonable to criticize the administration for some of the mistakes it made early in the war and to think very carefully before we take another similar step (i.e. Iran). That doesn’t mean we go back to the realist philosophy of foreign policy (the one that values stability above everything, even if it means we deal with the worst dictators). But whatever one’s philosophical preference is, we have a tiger by the tail now and our military is incapable of sustaining the surge. There is a middle-ground in this debate, but unfortunately the “cut and run” rhetoric gives the false impression that you are either 100% for the current policy or you are a defeatist. I am neither.

2. Kamikaze Pilots – Even if the national government is able to make the necessary concessions for reconciliation, I fear the car bombs and IEDs will continue in Iraq for a very long time. Early in the war the presumption was that if we held elections and established an Iraqi government everything else would fall into place. That didn’t happen. Now the presumption is, if we just contain the violence, the political process will follow. If this doesn’t work, then what?

3. Measure of success – Originally, the goal was to liberate Iraq and hopefully sew the seeds for democratization of the wider Middle East. I have heard that our objectives may now be scaled down considerably to the “Three No’s”: no genocide, no safe haven for Al Qaeda, and no regional war. This is much less ambitious but may be more realistic. (Note: I heard this on yesterday’s Meet the Press).

4. Never underestimate the enemy – I believe part of the reason we have not been attacked again is because al Qaeda tends to “go bigger” on the next attack. This takes time and considerable planning. Granted, fighting al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan has certainly dwindled their numbers, but I believe we would be underestimating the enemy to assume they are not planning and implementing something bigger than 9/11. Unfortunately you can’t defeat that particular threat with an army. This is all the more reason to fight this war in the smartest way we can, using every tool at our disposal but also understanding our resources are limited and our enemy is elusive.

Americans will always disagree. There will never be one unanimous “will.” I don’t believe having problems with the war in Iraq equates to total surrender. Nor do I think voicing those concerns shows weakness.

Posted in 9/11, Iraq, Silke, War On Terror, al-Qaeda, army