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"Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"
By Lt Col P
I read today a very interesting article by Ralph Peters in the current Armed Forces Journal.
In it, he advises that if the Iraqis will grasp firmly the helping hand that has been offered them, we should stay and fight it out. If, however, they can't or won't seize the opportunity, we ought to let them slide and fight it out themselves, and then pick up the pieces. He offers several plans, some of which I can't agree with.
However, he does have a good overall point. We can't force Iraq to become a democracy, but we can offer them the chance and stick with them if they take it. It will help them, and immeasurably help us. And if the Iraqis choose poorly, well, we should be cold-hearted and cool-headed enough to profit from it. This is an attitude I applaud, but one I'm not sure our population will embrace readily. The time might come, however, when they will.
If some of his plans are flawed, Peters should get high marks for stating some hard truths.
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Comments
Oh, I'm hard-hearted enough to accept it now.
Most of these options seem to me to be worse options than simply "staying the course". They have a significant possibility of destabilizing the region.
What's worse, all counter-insurgency experts know that such fights take time. 5-6 years at the least. The Iraqis should take over some of the load, and more so over time. But I think leaving before even the shortest counter-insurgency wars are won because we're "not winning" is short-sighted at best.
What's the hurry? Why not try finishing the job before running away?
Actually, you know what I think the biggest problem is?
The fact that just about everyone outside of Iraq (including me) and some fraction of the people in side it have no idea what's really going on there. Yet we all think we know what's best.
All I know is what I can tell by comparing Iraq to historically similar events. They were usually successful, eventually, given enough of a commitment. I think those who should be giving advice re: policy are those who are in a position to - the people who have access to all the information and spent time studying it. The rest of us are just blowing hot air.
Frankly I'm getting sick of the punditocracy.
...This is an attitude I applaud, but one I'm not sure our population will embrace readily....
You've got that right. There is a measurable part of our population who wants to go into Darfur. Spending our blood and treasure ought to strategically advance our country, not just assuage our feelings.
There's a few of us who remember that we owe Iran, big time. WWII Europe ended in Germany, not Italy or France.
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Agreed, Peters and another frequent contributor, John Nagl offer some interesting insights and, unlike so many others, offer ideas instead of just criticisms.