McCain Making Sense on Iraq
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Iraq, McCainJohn McCain on our responsibilities in Iraq:
â€It would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation, if we were to walk away from the Iraqi people and consign them to the horrendous violence, ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide that would follow a reckless, irresponsible and premature withdrawal.â€
And about the fight against Al Qaeda:
â€Those who claim we should withdraw from Iraq in order to fight Al Qaeda more effectively elsewhere are making a dangerous mistake. Whether they were there before is immaterial. Al Qaeda is in Iraq now. If we withdraw prematurely, Al Qaeda will survive [and] proclaim victory … Civil war in Iraq could easily descend into genocide, and destabilize the entire region as neighboring powers come to the aid of their favored factions. I believe a reckless and premature withdrawal would be a terrible defeat for our security interests and our values.â€
He does a nice job of summing up the multiple moral and strategic reasons for staying in Iraq until the nation is closer to stability. Now, no one, not even John McCain, is claiming that there is ultimately a militaristic solution. The solutions are diplomatic BUT without security there will be no advance in diplomacy or stability. And to achieve security, our forces are still needed.
Just look what’s happening in Basra now that the British have washed their hands of the city. Similarly, violence is spiking in Baghdad in areas where we’re withdrawing the first combat brigade.
You can argue that we are not morally culpable for what the Iraqis do to themselves and you can argue that our presence in Iraq is in no way making our nation safer, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to argue that our absence from Iraq will somehow improve matters. In fact, evidence indicates that, when we go, the nation will descend back into violence. The consequences of that violence are unknown but to think an unstable Iraq won’t directly impact our national security is to misunderstand the importance of the region.
Going into Iraq was a mistake. Leaving Iraq prematurely may be a bigger one.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 and is filed under Iraq, McCain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I don’t know, is saying what he should have said all along and making sense, or did his handlers say, “John, would shut the heck up with this I can out George Bush, George Bush crap! We need to soften your image because frankly you’ve been coming across like a moron lately…”
Is his new moral, practical approach a reversal or a a more detailed explanation, and if the latter, why hasn’t he been saying it for the past 9 months?
I agree the last several days has shown us a far more credible, rationale John McCain–but I don’t know if it is the real” McCain.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Leaving would be bad, but staying will be worse in the long run. The violence will increase when we leave no matter when that is. That’s why those of us who want to get out keep bringing up the fact that we wouldn’t be in this situation if we never went in in the first place – because no matter what choice we make now, we’re screwed.
Leaving may not necessarily make us safer, but if staying doesn’t either, why keep our people in danger? The question is which option is less bad, and when faced with the choice of staying in Iraq for 100 years to preserve the honorable intentions of those who went in, and getting out to let the Iraqis decide Iraq’s destiny, I much prefer the later. Is genocide and ethnic cleansing a possible consequence? Yes, and the blame for that falls squarely on the Bush administration. We should not hold our armed forces and the taxpayers responsible for their incompetence.
Keep in mind that leaving will give us the breathing room we need to recuperate both economically and militarily. The middle east can only find stability as a result of the efforts of the people of that region. If the American people are interesting in helping, then private organizations can always take charitable donations and send in private security forces like Blackwater to help out on a voluntary basis. But since genocide is not a national security threat, that is no reason to keep our military there.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I would add that because Al-qaeda was not in Iraq beforehand, we have an even greater moral imperative to defeat them there. We surgically removed Saddam – “Mission Accomplished” – with a minimum amount of troops and even had a plan to begin withdrawal 30 days after the collapse of the regime. The Jihadists, led by foreigners, chose to cross borders and enter Iraq simply to kill Americans and fill the power vacuum. In other words, they attacked us.
We could have mopped up the baathists, or reconciled with them within 6 months of the fall of Bagdhad if it wasn’t for this jihad, suicide-bombing, relgious fanaticism, Al-qaeda crap that has decided to make a stand in Iraq. It is a plague that extends throughout the middle east and has global aspirations; the insurgency itself proves that. Wouldn’t it be great if the government of Iraq used its wealth and power to persecute this jihadist filth instead of placating them or directly supporting them? Barack and Hillary don’t seem to think its that important.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Regardless of which party affiliation one adheres to, it should be clear to anyone who pays attention that the Iraq war is and has been from the get-go, an Unjust, Unjustifiable, Dishonest and Dishonorable enterprise that was forced upon America by the most corrupt and cynical administration in the history of the Union.
Forced upon America by application of fear, untruth and prevarication by means of ways that are antithetical to what I consider to be American and that essentially forced us (as in US) to sacrifice our Freedom and Liberty in exchange for the false sense of security that the present administration emanates.
I might remind America that he who sacrifices Liberty to obtain security deserves neither and that in effect doing so, he both hands victory to those that oppose us (as in US) as well as lowering us (as in US) to the same objectionable levels as those opponents. All of this has come to pass over the last five (arguably 8) years.
To continue earlier mentioned Unjust, Unjustifiable, Dishonest and Dishonorable enterprise as advocated by Mr. McCain, borders either to insanity or to extreme cynicism and has nothing to do with reason, reliance on facts or even with a real desire and intent to solve anything in Iraq.
On the one hand, it is pandering to the same Military Industrial Complex which Eisenhower (a Republican, mind you!) warned us against. On the other it is pandering to those whose ideology and worldview is so much ossified that they make a general impression of being reduced to being braindead Lemming knuckledraggers.
We have nothing to expect from Mr. McCain than a continuation of the fruitless policies of the previous two administrations under Mr. G.W.Bush and a further rape of the liberties as laid down in the constitution of the United States.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
No. That is ridiculous. The extermination of 6 million Jews was more than just the fault of Adolph Hitler. It was to a large degree the fault of the German people who were complicit, even if only through willful blindness or mass delusion. If the American people want to withdrawal from Iraq that is fine, but they can’t turn around and say that the ensuing genocide is entirely on G. Bush. No, when JG or you or anybody else says, “lets leave immediately” they are saying “lets leave immediately and the consequences be damned.”
So I’ll wait with baited breath to hear the “intellectually honest” argument: Iraqi genocide of Iraqis is a price we are willing to pay to get out of Iraq.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
What if we requested UN peacekeepers? That acts as a silent admission that we’ve gotten ourselves into a bigger mess than we can handle, brings in an organization with more experience at nationbuilding than we have, and reminds everybody that the world, and not just the US, has an interest in stability in the Mideast.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
The Mesopotamians have been governing themselves for over 5,000 years – I don’t think they need the US Army and Marine Corps to help sort things out. People die, it’s a fact of life. Although a war may speed up the inevitable it doesn’t change that fact. Borders change, countries are over run, and populations migrate.
American fighting men and women shouldn’t be dying in Iraq – they shouldn’t even be there. They should be dying of old age surrounded by their families here in the US. The Iraqis would have had to sort this out on their own sooner or later – with or without our help. Saddam is gone – the rest is up to them.
The Shia’ are the “old ones†of Mesopotamia predominantly. The Kurds are more closely aligned (population not politics) with Turkey, and the Sunni are closely tied to Syria and Jordan – there are 3 distinctly different populations in an area built on tribal alliances. Let them settle it their way – it’s the only way it will work long term.
Please don’t oversimplify the issue by saying al Qaeda will fill the void if we leave – that’s just silly. The Iraqi’s are smart enough to realize that al Qaeda members are nothing more than criminals, and they reject them. They know that al Qaeda are religious fanatics, and they reject them. Al Qaeda wouldn’t gain a foothold if we left – they would be chased out or killed eventually. Theocracy is a real possibility however, – but in that area of the world you generally have royalty, dictatorship, or Theocracy. So bring our people home – there is nothing to be gained from this fight except greasing the pockets of the criminals…..whether they are here in this country or over in the Middle East.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@Dos,
If genocide were our top concern why aren’t we also in Darfur? I don’t mean to be cynical, but we can’t solve all the world’s problems.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree that the German people’s willful ignorance was just as much at fault as the Nazis were, but the parallel to our situation is? Iraq is not our country, and we’re talking about an event that hasn’t happened (and hopefully never will) – so how is our obligation at all like that of the German people’s in WWII?
Let me rephrase what I was trying to say. McCain claims that we have a responsibility to prevent genocide. My comment was in response to that, meaning that he could only be correct if “we” is in reference to the current administration and every congressperson who voted to authorize the war. McCain is trying to implicate every US citizen for the consequences of this war and I believe that if he’s going to be blaming people, he should blame those who made the decision.
If you want to talk about blame, I really don’t think the violence in Iraq is even Bush’s fault. However Saddam was removed it would have resulted in this. It is the explosion of years of pent up aggression of the Iraqi people who want to control their country. They will find their own way and it is not our place to tell them what to do.
I personally have contributed to the http://www.savedarfur.org and were it to come to that in Iraq, I would similarly act as a private citizen to help. But I would not take up arms and go help fight, nor would I ask my brothers and sisters here to do so. The thought of people killing each other is something that bothers me and that is precisely why I don’t want my tax-dollars and my friends involved in this.
At the end of the day, the question isn’t whether WE are willing to pay the price of Iraqi genocide of Iraqis, it’s whether the Iraqis are willing to pay that price. We need to get out and let them decide; coercing them through force is only going to make it more likely they’ll vent their frustration through force.
March 27th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Sure, let’s send UN peacekeepers and get another Darfur situation.
Peacekeepers are useless in combat and become easy pray for violent factions. Not a good idea.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
This is just further evidence of Senator McCain’s weakness in the areas of national security and foreign policy. TPM and Acropolis Review provide more for debunking that myth:
http://acropolisreview.com/2008/03/john-mccains-iraq-war-five-year.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/184135.php