Take all US troops out of Iraq and move them into Iran. The resulting power void in Iraq will leave the factions squabbling amongst themselves for control, and Iran will be too busy trying (and failing) to resist the US invasion to influence the process. Topple the Iranian government, destroy the infrastructure and all vestiges of WMD technology, administer free elections, and be done with it. At that point either bring the troops home or send them back to Iraq to knock over whatever maniac has seized power there in our absence, if he was not legitimately elected. Repeat the Iran-Iraq shuffle as necessary, until both nations get the point: We will not abide blind hatred and intolerance masquerading under the banner of religion, and especially not as a means of organizing a state.
If the Iraq debacle has proven anything, it's that we're really, really good at knocking over petty dictators and really lousy at installing democracies in their wake. So why not stick to what we do best? Knock 'em over and leave their nations to sort out their new governments for themselves. You can bet that whoever comes afterward will be, if not exactly grateful to, then at least respectful of US power.
2 comments:
i don't see the logic in killing dictators and leaving their countries in civil war. are you ok with violence and murder as long as it's not being carried out by a dictator?
ben, thank you for your comment.
No, I'm not OK with violence and murder, under almost any circumstances. My point when I wrote this was more that I don't think democracy can be effectively installed by an occupying power. The Iraqis are in a horrible situation and I don't mean to belittle that, it's just that I believe we can do very little good for them at this point, unless it's to serve as an outside aggressor against which the various factions can unify. But of course that's exactly the scenario our government won't tolerate.
In Vietnam, for instance, our intervention only prolonged civil war. The end result was effectively the same--the communists won the country. I imagine that, as in Vietnam, as soon as we leave Iraq there will be a dramatic shift in power. We might as well leave now and get it over with sooner.
As for knocking over dictators, well, I don't really advocate doing it on general principle--part of my theme that we can't force democracy on anyone. But I might advocate doing it when the regime poses a clear threat to our interests, as for instance Iranian mullahs armed with nuclear weapons.
I used to be more tolerant of militant Islam, but I am beginning to come to the opinion that any religion that advocates wholesale slaughter of nonbelievers, and tries to effect it politically, must be put down with aggressive force. And I'm not talking about Christianity in the middle ages--I'm talking about the modern world.
Thanks again for making a comment.
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