Winds of War. -Joshua Muravchik
[T]he demands that we throw in the towel in Iraq, their attempts to constrain the president’s freedom to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the proposal of the Baker-Hamilton commission that we appeal to Iran to help extricate us from Iraq—all of these may be read by the [Islamic] radicals as signs of our imminent collapse. In the name of peace, they are hastening the advent of the next war.
[T]he demands that we throw in the towel in Iraq, their attempts to constrain the president’s freedom to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the proposal of the Baker-Hamilton commission that we appeal to Iran to help extricate us from Iraq—all of these may be read by the [Islamic] radicals as signs of our imminent collapse. In the name of peace, they are hastening the advent of the next war.
[Wall Street Journal]
5 comments:
This helps to illustrate the difference between the fine business coverage in the paper and the nonsense on their editorial page over at the Wall Street Journal. No one is attempting to reign in the President's ability to stop Iran. However, unlike the Bush Administration, the rest of the government is catching on to what the people already know: that you CAN learn from your mistakes. What George W. believes is Texas bravado other people think is stubbornness and stupidity. I admit, I think the only place Iran should have in Iraq is to be told to keep out of it, but then, someone should have told Bush that before he got into it also. I have pointed out many times why Iraq wasn't just a mistake because of how badly it is going, though many learned people on the Middle-East had predicted this, and maybe a President should consult the well educated before committing the country to war, but also because it has actually weakened us in the eyes of terrorists, empowered Iran and created an Al-Qaeda recruiting ground where none existed. Not only was Saddam Hussein afraid of Al-Qaeda and helping to keep Iran in check, but while many in the world feared the US's strength, now many have learned that what the organized army of Iraq could not do, which is to put up a credible resistance to our invasion, a loosely knit band of ever growing terrorists can do quite effectively. Our poor planning and foresight in Iraq, coupled with Israel's ineffective incursion in Lebanon, are the kind of things that, unfortunately, embolden the war of terror. We will be paying for George W.'s ignorance and inability to plan long after he is out of office.
US forces in Iraq have not, as is commonly posited, stoked the jihadi flame. They have, admittedly, acted like a jihadi magnet, attracting jihadists near and far. It may be wiser to fight them in Baghdad, than in Brooklyn.
I am sure it certainly attracts current terrorists, but has been documented in Intelligence Reports, to be a recruiting tool as well:
As reported last year, and copied here from the NPR website:
Iraq
Iraq War Fuels Terrorism Threat, U.S. Report Says
Morning Edition, September 25, 2006 · The U.S. war in Iraq has increased, not decreased, the threat of terrorism, according to a top-level, classified intelligence summary.
Findings of that National Intelligence Estimate on "Trends in Global Terrorism" were first reported over the weekend by The New York Times.
The intellegence report finds the war in Iraq has fueled a new generation of Islamic radicalism, which has spread around the globe.
U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte disputes that characterization of the report, saying published accounts reflect only "a small handful" of the study's conclusions.
Robert Hutchings was the chairman of the National Intelligence Council in 2004 when the Council wrote a similarly critical, but unclassified, review. Hutchings speaks with Renee Montagne about the news.
And as reported in the Washington Post 2 years ago:
War Helps Recruit Terrorists, Hill Told
Intelligence Officials Talk Of Growing Insurgency
By Dana Priest and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 17, 2005;
The insurgency in Iraq continues to baffle the U.S. military and intelligence communities, and the U.S. occupation has become a potent recruiting tool for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, top U.S. national security officials told Congress yesterday.
"Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists," CIA Director Porter J. Goss told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Dear Larry,
That is excellent evidence for the perspective that US actions breed terrorism...however, there is also evidence to the contrary.
The best recruitment tool for Islamic terror groups are signs of weakness and lack of resolve to destroy their hateful ideology. For instance:
*Israel's poor performance in Lebanon
*Israel's withdrawal from Gaza
I think you'll get my point.
Withdrawal from Iraq and you will see a bloodbath...that will also be the US's fault...as will be giving the jihadists a new base country.
There is no doubt that weakness is also a flash point, but the weakness shown by the US and Israel could have been avoided if the attacks had been avoided. It merely proves it is not enough to think you can win...but you'd better be sure. I have to say I have not seen any excellent evidence that shows what we have done around the world has helped curb terrorism. As for here in the US, I need not point out again that the two attacks on the World trade Center were somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 years apart. We may be doing a good job of finding potential plots and threats, or maybe not. Unfortunately, only time will tell. I am sure we will see a bloodbath if we pull out of Iraq, as we have already been witnessing one---starting with the 10's of thousands of Iraqis killed by us at the beginning of the invasion. There is no longer an easy way out, but we stay to what end? You think we will leave behind a new Jihadist base country? We have done that already. We created it for them and handed it over, and empowered Iran in the process. To stay as a hated occupying nation will just continue to further the mess we started. And of course, keep young Americans getting killed. I am believing, that thanks to us, Iraq will never again be a sovereign nation, but will need to be divided amongst several of its neighbors. This will be, and cause, nothing but trouble. But it is better than sewing Iraq on our flags as the 51st state...because that is what you will have...a long, torturous and ultimately fruitless occupation.
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