Re: "yeah why should they?"
There's reality... and then there's pipe dreams.
The neo-cons had a fascinating long-term strategic proposal (introduce Democracy into the middle east, using Iraq as a wedge)... which, incidentally, I agree is a brilliant goal.
The only problem is that they were woefully unprepared for the realities on the ground (unlike the first Bush administration, which realized that toppling the Dictator would most likely result in a civil war, and the splintering of the artificial 'Iraqi nation' into perhaps three smaller 'nations'... with the largest of them --- the Shia 'nation' --- most likely being closely tied to Iran).
As a result of being totally unrealistic (expecting 'flowers for the liberators', like Paris in WWII, a pie-in-the-sky expectation Cheney voiced) --- and this is my main gripe with the so-called 'neo-cons' --- they *grossly* underprepared for the massive expense and long-term commitment of US resources that would be required to have even a slim chance of succeeding in the long-term at 'installing' a Democracy.
The national expense to the US for our war and occupation will *easily* hit 1/2 Trillion Dollars... and if we are there 10, 12, 15 years as some predict, it could perhaps reach double that.
Now, that's a massive amount of money. An amount that could have bought a lot for the American people (a better health care system?, debt repayment?, tax cuts and more economic growth?, a paid for missile defense system?, homeland security... you name it).
So, in the end, I believe this will come down to was it worth it? Was it cost-effective?
If Iraq implodes, and a Shia Theocracy is installed in 1/2 of the 'country', if recruitment of terrorists around the world *soars*... then I'd argue that it was all a huge squandering of our national resources, that resulted in *less* security for Americans, and a lower standard of living.
That is history as yet unwritten, however.
What we do know though, is that it is extremely difficult to *force* Democracy on a people --- especially if they don't have the social infrastructure to allow it to bloom. Things such as a functioning legal system, domestic security, and a sense of nationalism.
Time will tell if we have shot ourselves in the foot, or succeeded brilliantly... but the odds for cost-effective success were always very low. |
