The Iraq Situation
I think Andrew Sullivan really nails it right here on the Tim Russert show a couple of weeks ago.
His money quote :
TR: You started our conversation by talking about mismanagement by President Bush in Iraq. Explain that.
AS: Well, look. I'm, like Christopher, very enthusiastic about this war: believe that Saddam's tyranny was disgusting; believe also that he had almost certainly weapons of mass destruction; and believe that we didn't need to get the French and Russian's agreement to do what we had to do. But I assumed that we'd go in there with sufficient troops; I assumed we'd be able to seal the borders; I assumed we would be really deadly serious about controlling that country and transitioning it to democracy. I didn't assume that you'd go in there with clearly not enough troops to keep order; have no idea or concept an insurgency could arise; commit blunders that have only alienated the entire Iraqi population, with the exception of the Kurds and some Shi'a, against us; attempt to retake Fallujah and then abandon it; and now abandon whole swaths of the country to Islamist and jihadist forces; and now tell us, "Well, nothing's perfect," in the words of Donald Rumsfeld. It makes me furious that they have attempted such an important, noble and vital enterprise and botched it, and not taken the care to make sure this darn thing was done right.
A-freaking-men.
By the way, the whole discussion is well worth a read, Chris Hitchens brings news and insight just back from Afghanistan.
His money quote :
TR: You started our conversation by talking about mismanagement by President Bush in Iraq. Explain that.
AS: Well, look. I'm, like Christopher, very enthusiastic about this war: believe that Saddam's tyranny was disgusting; believe also that he had almost certainly weapons of mass destruction; and believe that we didn't need to get the French and Russian's agreement to do what we had to do. But I assumed that we'd go in there with sufficient troops; I assumed we'd be able to seal the borders; I assumed we would be really deadly serious about controlling that country and transitioning it to democracy. I didn't assume that you'd go in there with clearly not enough troops to keep order; have no idea or concept an insurgency could arise; commit blunders that have only alienated the entire Iraqi population, with the exception of the Kurds and some Shi'a, against us; attempt to retake Fallujah and then abandon it; and now abandon whole swaths of the country to Islamist and jihadist forces; and now tell us, "Well, nothing's perfect," in the words of Donald Rumsfeld. It makes me furious that they have attempted such an important, noble and vital enterprise and botched it, and not taken the care to make sure this darn thing was done right.
A-freaking-men.
By the way, the whole discussion is well worth a read, Chris Hitchens brings news and insight just back from Afghanistan.
posted by Scott L. Stuart at
1:09 AM
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