<<Which of Pandora's boxes might we close if we quit or further open? 1) There would be fewer body bags, for sure. US and Brit soldiers that is. There might be a much greater toll on Iraqi civilians, though. Hard to say where the balance is there. 2) We might disabuse ourselves and other nations of the notion that preemptive war is OK. Or not. Don't know if we could get those particular locusts back in the box or not, but there's a chance. And that would be a most worthwhile accomplishment. 3) We could save money--further red ink from the war and the costs of rebuilding Iraq. Those savings are measurable. What costs in future conflicts might be incurred as a result of not fighting this war, who knows. 4) The UN would get new life. Whether that's a good thing or not is arguable. 5) We obviate the problem of Balkanization in Iraq because the strongman would be in place. Or perhaps we just postpone it. 6) We might persuade a few people that we're not the nasty crusaders and imperialists that they think we are, but probably not many and the suspicions would remain. Don't think we can get many of those particular locusts back in the box. 7) The dominos stay in place, probably, or maybe not. Maybe some of the ME dominos are emboldened. 8) Saddam gets his oil fields back. 9) he gets to keep is WMD, if he has any.
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I agree with you on number one- although I think it would also save Iraqi lives, but it might not, as you say, hard to tell. I totally agree on number 2 and 3. I think the price tag could be great to do what we said we're going to do, and if we're not going to do that, I don't see the point in spending a little bit of money to do a poor job that will get us blamed just as much as no job at all. As for 4 I wonder if the UN hasn't gotten a bit of life simply because the US chose to disregard it? It has been seen by other nations as our rubber stamp (at times) and this DOES show that the UN is not our lackey- a valuable perception in the world, I think, if the UN is to work. Of course that assumes we, the US do not try and succeed in killing the UN. But if we do not kill it, I think the UN defiance of the American will may have made it a more viable organization. jmo 8 and 9 I agree with you on- and don't have much of a problem with those. 6 is hard to decide on. Could go either way. But a bit of humility in a superpower might be a good thing. 7 I'm not sure about. I think the dominos will have to be changed by what has happened. I'm just not sure how, and nobody can be. |
