How to Look at Iraq

How to Look at Iraq - Swampland - TIME:

Check out this idea:

"Anyone who says 'victory' is possible in Iraq is lying to you. Anyone who says, as Bill Richardson does, that we can and should pull all our forces out by the end of the year is also not telling the truth. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to limit the damage, as we leave, and leave carefully, intelligently, calibrating every step (which means no public timetables or end dates)."

Well, what do you know? In Joe Klein we have a defeatist who persists with the notion that 'leaving' is the best we can hope for. Such ideas never profited this nation. From Korea to Vietnam to the Cold War to the first Gulf War we see that half measures that 'limit damage' only prolong conflict and the loss of life. We live in a world governed by the violent use of force, and peace is a product of victory in the violent realm. Kenneth Waltz correctly refers to this as the anarchy of our world, and in this anarchy only force or the threat of force ensures peace. Either chaotic violence will reign, or the violence that brings liberty will reign. Our opponents bring disorder, mysticism, and darkness. We bring order, civilization, and the light of intellectual liberty. We should look at leaving only in the context of victory and nothing else. And that, Mr. Klein, is no lie. It is the hallmark of America throughout history.