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| Chucky Hagel: Leaving Iraq, Honorably |
| 2006-11-25 |
| There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq. These terms do not reflect the reality of what is going to happen there. The future of Iraq was always going to be determined by the Iraqis -- not the Americans. Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost. It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism. There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend. The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose. We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam. Honorable intentions are not policies and plans. Iraq belongs to the 25 million Iraqis who live there. They will decide their fate and form of government. It may take many years before there is a cohesive political center in Iraq. America's options on this point have always been limited. There will be a new center of gravity in the Middle East that will include Iraq. That process began over the past few days with the Syrians and Iraqis restoring diplomatic relations after 20 years of having no formal communication. The next installment would be this weekend's unprecedented meeting in Iran of the presidents of Iran, Syria and Iraq, if it takes place. What does this tell us? It tells us that regional powers will fill regional vacuums, and they will move to work in their own self-interest -- without the United States. This is the most encouraging set of actions for the Middle East in years. The Middle East is more combustible today than ever before, and until we are able to lead a renewal of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, mindless destruction and slaughter will continue in Lebanon, Israel and across the Middle East. We are a long way from a sustained peaceful resolution to the anarchy in Iraq. But this latest set of events is moving the Middle East in the only direction it can go with any hope of lasting progress and peace. The movement will be imperfect, stuttering and difficult. America finds itself in a dangerous and isolated position in the world. We are perceived as a nation at war with Muslims. Unfortunately, that perception is gaining credibility in the Muslim world and for many years will complicate America's global credibility, purpose and leadership. This debilitating and dangerous perception must be reversed as the world seeks a new geopolitical, trade and economic center that will accommodate the interests of billions of people over the next 25 years. The world will continue to require realistic, clear-headed American leadership -- not an American divine mission. The United States must begin planning for a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq. The cost of combat in Iraq in terms of American lives, dollars and world standing has been devastating. We've already spent more than $300 billion there to prosecute an almost four-year-old war and are still spending $8 billion per month. The United States has spent more than $500 billion on our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And our effort in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, partly because we took our focus off the real terrorist threat, which was there, and not in Iraq. We are destroying our force structure, which took 30 years to build. We've been funding this war dishonestly, mainly through supplemental appropriations, which minimizes responsible congressional oversight and allows the administration to duck tough questions in defending its policies. Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility in the past four years. It is not too late. The United States can still extricate itself honorably from an impending disaster in Iraq. The Baker-Hamilton commission gives the president a new opportunity to form a bipartisan consensus to get out of Iraq. If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder -- one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead. To squander this moment would be to squander future possibilities for the Middle East and the world. That is what is at stake over the next few months. The writer is a |
| Posted by:.com |
| #12 Damn! Well said Joe! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-11-25 23:21 |
| #11 "CANNOT IMPOSE A DEMOCRACY" > Get real, compared to MacArthur, Patton, or Chesty Puller, etc.......or even General Crook, CENTCOM HASN'T EVEN TRIED YET. There are some things that only War = Military Force = Force of Command = Brutality/Fog of War can accomplish, NOT THE POLS IN WASHINGTON. Things = Decisions = Actions that can induce a Commander at any level to wilfully put his Rank, Career, + Authority in jeopardy. We can't all be Politically Correct, we can't all be YES-MEN. MUDVILLE GAZETTE > "Good people can sleep well/soundly at night becuz ROUGH/BAD MEN ARE READY TO DO BATTLE ON THEIR BEHALF". HENRY FONDA > "Captain York, when you command this Regiment, .... .... COMMAND IT". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-11-25 22:58 |
| #10 Hey people. After US army leaves Iraqi Shia will massacre Iraqi Sunnis. In response, Shia will be massacared in majority Sunni, Dar countries. Now, some people might say that this is a bad thing. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-11-25 22:36 |
| #9 There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend Hey everybody, wait a minute, this guy cites The Kissinger! Who might be right after all, since he made his statement after the Democrats took the majority in congress. |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-11-25 15:14 |
| #8 < The Baker-Hamilton commission gives the president a new opportunity to form a bipartisan consensus to get out of Iraq/I> i.e. a 'new' opportunity to do what Hagel wants. He definitely has a way with words. |
| Posted by: KBK 2006-11-25 14:42 |
| #7 Tell me about it. |
| Posted by: HRH Charles III 2006-11-25 14:32 |
| #6 There's something about the names Chucky (Shumer), Charles (Rangel), and Chuck (Hagel) that induces Upchuck. |
| Posted by: Phineter Thraviger 2006-11-25 14:05 |
| #5 By the way even those UNIMAGINABLE CARNAGE the LLL's call Iraq's regular murder rate (that is what it is when terrorist randomly kill people in the street either with bullets or bombs or knives whatever) are not even SOOoooo unimaginalbe at all. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/11/october-iraqi-deaths-nearly-match.html Go check it out hattip Gateway Pundit he also if you look around has some KISS charts putting other historical stats compared with Iraq. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-11-25 13:37 |
| #4 We are getting ready to make History here. If the LLL's have thier way we are going to become the FIRST nation in History to ever SURRENDER in a war because the enemy was killing to many OF HIS OWN CIVILIANS. People if the LLL's suceed in this humiliation of humiliations of our nation. I don't know about you guys but the only next war I will be willing to go to will be the one in our own streets to deport ALL LLL's and thier allies and ilk. Iraq War historically speaking on every level= economic the Military budget including the supplementals is around 4.5% GDP less than the early 80's peace time budget (no war bonds no war taxes BOOMING Economy still), US civilian draw .05% of the population is involved in this WOT, military casualties we lost more men on Wake Island in WW2, ect.. The LLL's since day one has been on a mission to make this WOT a failure wether it is or is not (tell a lie enough it becomes truth, Gerbals). |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-11-25 13:26 |
| #3 "Words fail me." No, I think you summed it up pretty well: We cannot win if we leave. We cannot kill terrorists if we leave. We can no longer convince any ally that we are serious about supporting them militarily if we leave. Though I wonder if the bulk of the damage has already been done: how can any adversary listen to the words coming out of the Donks, the MSM, and idiots like Hagel, and still take us seriously? |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-11-25 12:56 |
| #2 Bush has been lying pretty low lately. I doubt he's changed much. It will be interesting to see his reaction to the Baker Hamilton report. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-11-25 12:47 |
| #1 Words fail me. Men without honor uttered the words "Peace with Honor" 35 years ago, and they failed to live up to them. I bought into them then, but I won't now. Wars are messy. Victory is not always apparent, but I guess dishonorable men prefer the certainty of defeat to the uncertainty that we are winning. We cannot win if we leave. We cannot kill terrorists if we leave. We can no longer convince any ally that we are serious about supporting them militarily if we leave. Words fail me |
| Posted by: badanov 2006-11-25 12:05 |