And if, instead of creating your "new model", Iraq drifts into political chaos and de facto local autocratic rule by a gaggle of religious leaders chafing under endless military occupation, then what?
That would not be good - but it would still be a big improvement over life under Saddam Hussein, both for them and for us. You may think Gaddafi's sudden about-face had nothing to do with Iraq, but I don't. Other dictators have noticed that America stopped being a pitiful, helpless giant.
However, it has not even been one year since Saddam fell. A period of transition is to be expected in a country where all politics, except Saddam, was ruthlessly suppressed for 30 thirty years. Reports say that we are making good progress, and the Shias, Sunni, and Kurds have not yet come to blows, and don't even look like they're chafing for a fight. Our troops are building schools and generators over there, progress is being made. The North and the South are calm and functional. So why predict disaster? Why hope for disaster? |
