One bad choice begets a rash of others. The disparate cacophony of reported facts about the current circumstances in and around Iraq indicate to me that, there are no good choices open to us, none. That is why no one has been able to come up with a strategy. Planning is usually aimed at achieving positive outcomes. Plain and simple, there are none.
What we are left with is the necessity of facing up to the real nature of the choices that lie ahead. We are going to have to resign ourselves to the lesser of the evils confronting us. That, unfortunately, is the very best we can do. In so doing, we will be forced to match each of those distasteful options against our system of values and somehow arrive at a determination of which values have the highest priority and therefore which will have to be sacrificed. What follow is a preliminary skeletal outline of that kind of comparison for purposes of serious discussion.
Option 1: Stay the course. The hope for eventual victory, a democratic Iraq, stability there and a positive influence in the region and thereby discouraging terrorism.
Values at risk: The sacrifice of human life, the long term devastating financial risk to our economy, American pragmatism: if something isn't working you fix it.
Option 2: Gradual or immediate withdrawal. Ends or reduces the loss of life and treasure, Stops instigating reactions against what are perceived by many as US occupation troops.
Values at risk: Confirms in the eyes of our enemies, the image of the US as a " Paper Tiger", encourages our enemies to become even more aggressive and expansive in their destructive efforts, Iran will try to take over Iraq and the larger region may become destabilized.
Option 3: Segmenting Iraq into separate religious territories and distributing oil revenues proportionate to population groupings. Fewer clashes between different religious militias, three separate governments mean more agreement possible within each, foreign jihadist instigators less tolerated, infra structure less subject to destruction thereby improving services.
Values at risk: Big cities like Baghdad remain mixed therefore heightened policing necessary and Baghdad is where the biggest problems exist, Relocating millions of people is going to require a kind of unbelievably complicated nation building we are not presently prepared to shoulder.
posted on October 26, 2006 10:48 AM (EST)
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Comments: 2
Thats very true perhaps that deserves listing as a fourth option because it would represent a rational change but also entails additional sacrifices. It probably would entail bringing in more troops, more supplies, and more involvement with other players in the region.