But we need to replace these troops with economic development teams, peace corp volunteers, and NGOs aimed at bettering the lives of common Arabs and muslims in the region, all working to create economic diversity and stability.
I've lived in the third world for most of my adult life. I've worked in the aid industry, written about the aid industry, and observed it fairly carefully. I can tell you with some degree of certainty that all the aid, development teams, peace corps volunteers, and NGOs on earth will not do one iota of good in the absence of stable government, a functional legal system, and something approaching rational policy making. These have to come from inside; they cannot be imposed.
I wish I had some real solutions, but I don't. One very important effort, which could have started decades ago if the US had any common sense, is to reduce or eliminate our dependence on Middle East oil. If we weren't so obsessed with the notion that energy policy should be written by oil companies, this could have been accomplished by now, and we would have no vital interest to defend in the Middle Esat. That would make our position much more secure.
My original point, which we've strayed away from, remains the same: defeating the Arab armies will be the easy part. Extricating ourselves afterward without leaving a worse mess than we have now will be much more difficult and I see no evidence that any serious plan for how to do this is being developed. |
