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FLAWED AND UGLY.
Reuel Marc Gerecht celebrates President Bush's creative destruction:
Although the White House often seems bedeviled by the task of defining "victory" in Iraq, it really isn't that hard. Flawed and ugly as it is, Iraqi democracy stumbles forward. The Shiite and Sunni Arabs are slowly establishing representative political arrangements within their own communities that allow some diversity of opinion.
Leaving aside the fact that as this "victory" as Gerecht defines it, in addition to obviously representing a monumental climbdown from each and every one of the numerous justifications previously offered for the war, does not actually add up to "an Iraqi state" as much as to "a series of armed militia communities we're going to call Iraq," was this outcome really worth 4,000 American dead, over 28,000 wounded, and, by the end of 2008, some $600 billion in American treasure? Was it worth over half a million Iraqi dead, many times that maimed, and some 3 million displaced? Was it worth creating an open source laboratory for terrorists to develop and sharpen their tactics against the most technologically advanced military in the world, enabling them disseminate those tactics around the world via internet? Was it worth losing a thousand dollars at poker just to win twenty at blackjack?
The remainder of the article takes neocon propaganda to the level of farce. Gerecht tries to put the best possible face on President Bush's flawed, ugly, and incoherent Middle East policy, which stumbles forward as courtiers like Gerecht trail behind, praising the monarch for his genius and assuring him that the blighted wasteland he surveys is a verdant oasis.
--Matthew Duss
COMMENTS (9)
All true, but the TV and radio reporters have more or less unanimously taken it as, not opinion, but fact, that the troop buildup in Iraq has succeeded, that the situation there is greatly improved, and that good will finally come of this. It's often the premise the talking heads use for questions. A common maneuver is to contrast the "success" in Iraq with the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
In other words, you don't hvae to be a neocon or a Bushista to believe this line -- it's the conventional wisdom in the corporate media.
Posted by: cervantes | February 13, 2008 10:53 AM
There are other opinions and that's why we are still in there.
Questions such as "was it worth it?" depend on what the future holds. Those who think it is worth the sacrifice see a much different future than you do.
Posted by: El Viajero | February 13, 2008 10:58 AM
El Viajero wrote:
"Questions such as "was it worth it?" depend on what the future holds. Those who think it is worth the sacrifice see a much different future than you do."
Yeah a future where Saddam had WMD, an active nuke program, ties to Al Qaeda, and was about to dust the US with anthrax created in vans and spread by balsa drones.
Posted by: blatherskite | February 13, 2008 11:03 AM
blatherskite,
that was hilarious. thanks.
Posted by: Eric Martin | February 13, 2008 12:00 PM
The Shiite and Sunni Arabs are slowly establishing representative political arrangements within their own communities that allow some diversity of opinion.
Much like the northern and southern states did in the 1860's.
Then again, I suppose the diversity of opinion he's cheering includes the vicious fighting between the Shiite factions in Basra.
Posted by: Jinchi | February 13, 2008 12:39 PM
Those who think it is worth the sacrifice see a much different future than you do.
The problem is they refuse to describe that future to the rest of us. That's why victory in Iraq is always a moving target.
Since "victory" is always based on today's PR they never actually strive to achieve it.
Posted by: Jinchi | February 13, 2008 12:56 PM
Those who think it is worth the sacrifice see a much different future than you do.
Especially since in general others are doing the sacrificing. It's win-win!
Posted by: Gregory | February 13, 2008 1:40 PM
Was it worth over half a million Iraqi dead...?
Try to lay off utter bs, Matt. It hurts your already unsteady credibility.
Posted by: Brian | February 13, 2008 7:53 PM
yeah it's worth it to cowardly chicken hawks like el viagro.
Posted by: merlallen | February 14, 2008 9:20 AM