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A Modest Proposal

Frank J. says that the military needs to get back to basics:

I, for one, know the military - and especially my brother - would like this policy a lot better. Actually, if the people shouting "Chickenhawk!" all the time got their way and only people in the military made decisions on wars, that's exactly what would happen. My brother, like many Marines, joined the military to kill evil foreigners, not to build schools. Do you have any idea how few casualties we'd take if our sole goal was to go into a country, kill all the readily available targets, and leave? Do you also know how much cheaper that would be? Plus, if we actually just left Iraq right after we had that infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner, the whole Middle East would be talking about that huge Iraq military win because we totally kicked the crap out of Iraq. The only reason the conflict doesn't look like a clear-cut victory is because we stayed after the crap-kicking to try and make friends.

America is big; we don’t need friends.

I now think liberals have had this issue right all along: We need to just go into countries, destroy them, and then leave them to rot. If you don't want your country destroyed, make sure it's only pestering France and not us.

[Late afternoon update]

Scott Ott has a scoop on Bush's new strategy, one that makes much more sense than "staying the course":

...Mr. Bush said the Iraq Study Group, Kofi Annan and other Democrats have convinced him that engagement with Iran and Syria is crucial to finding a “holistic solution” to the Iraq situation.

“At the very least,” said Mr. Bush, “Redeploying our troops to Iran should help Iranian weapons manufacturers save some money on shipping.”

Posted by Rand Simberg at December 01, 2006 12:24 PM

Comments

We didn't stay to make friends. We stayed to do the same thing we did in Japan after WWII: establish a democracy in a place where the very concept was alien. The occupation of Japan took six years. I don't know why anyone thought Iraq would be easier.

See "The Case for Democracy" by Natan Sharansky.

Posted by Kelly Parks at December 1, 2006 12:38 PM

I say we just nuke them. I have no qualms about killing foreigners or their children.

Posted by Will Falsten at December 1, 2006 01:28 PM

So Let's See:

We Invaded Iraq because of WMD... NOT!

We Invaded Iraq because of 9-11,,, NOT!

We invaded Iraq to create freedom and democracy,,, NOT!

If the answer is to kill all the iraqi's what was the question?

Posted by anonymous at December 1, 2006 01:59 PM

We invaded Iraq for all those reasons, Anonymous Moron. I guess you have problems with the concept of "satire."

Posted by Rand Simberg at December 1, 2006 02:02 PM

There was also a UN resolution that promised force if certain conditions were not met. Those conditions were not met, we used force.

Posted by Mac at December 1, 2006 02:14 PM

"If we actually just left Iraq right after we had that infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner, the whole Middle East would be talking about"

What the heck would that accomplish other than leaving a power vacuum for the next ruthless tyrant or miliant islamist group to take root in the rubble and be nourished from the chaos?

Integrating Iraq in to the world economy and supporting Iraqi democratization is a complex and messy effort primarly because the US cannot dictate the decisions and results of internal Iraqi politics.

Operation Iraqi Freedom over the long term creates an opportunity, sets of a 'Big Bang' or an inflection point in the history of the middle east. It offers Iraqi society a chance to build something better.

Without OIF, we already know the likely future trajectory: Saddam Hussein and then his sons would have continued to trash Iraqi society and be the primary agressors in the region.

They would have continued financing PLO suicide bombers, restarted Iraq's hibernating WMD programs and an continued an offensive military buildup - as soon as Russia, China and France dismantled the UN arms embargo.

Winning the War on Terrorism AKA Defeating Islamist Militancy requires a comprehensive long term strategy - more than just wracking up a good body county. The US and allies must nurture a prosperous and free civil society across the Islamic world.

Posted by John Kavanagh at December 1, 2006 02:24 PM

That's right. America is a big country. We don't need friends. And we have so many enemies even inside our big country - foreigners, immigrants, gays, transvestites, bisexual ex-Governors, anonymous posters, the New York Times and Democrats!!! Bomb them all !!!

Posted by Toast_n_Tea at December 1, 2006 02:30 PM

John says:

"Winning the War on Terrorism AKA Defeating Islamist Militancy requires a comprehensive long term strategy - more than just wracking up a good body county. The US and allies must nurture a prosperous and free civil society across the Islamic world."

Exactly right. Bush had the right idea (the man I believe is well motivated). He just didn't understand what it takes and he has some pretty seriously sick and delusional people on his team who played along but didn't share the vision.

America however isn't ready to do what it takes, and I'm not talking bombs. I'm talking serious peacemaking starting with the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Even if we know what should be done our system is polluted so badly with lobbyists that a president, however well motivated can't proceed.

Posted by at December 1, 2006 02:35 PM

I'm talking serious peacemaking starting with the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

It's not possible to do "peacemaking" when one side doesn't want peace. Or when their definition of peace is the destruction of the other side. The Palestinians will get peace when they give up their goal of the destruction of Israel.

Posted by Rand Simberg at December 1, 2006 02:38 PM

Frank J. is my hero...he's also damned funny :D

Posted by Frantic Freddie at December 1, 2006 06:17 PM

Let's see, Frank J has never fought in a war,
never had to execute these orders, never
had to make peace afterwards.

It's easy to make war, it's much harder to make peace

Posted by anonymous at December 1, 2006 08:30 PM

Bush the second's commitment to Iraqi democracy at any price is his "Read my lips .. " moment. He may have been upfront about building a democratic country in the middle east, but the impression that was left with the public was that we'd be out of there inside of 2 years. Then it was 4 years or before the midterm elections. Now, who knows when?

Posted by K at December 1, 2006 11:23 PM

Let's see, Frank J has never fought in a war

"Chickenhawk! Apply directly to the forehead! Chickenhawk! Apply directly to the forehead! Chickenhawk! Apply directly to the forehead!"

Posted by McGehee at December 2, 2006 06:00 AM

It's easy to make war, it's much harder to make peace

It's actually even easier to make peace. Unless another nation is threatening the sovereignty of you or your allies, simply don't make war.

Posted by Adrasteia at December 2, 2006 07:29 AM

Re. Rand's comment: "Palestinians don't want peace." A sweeping generalization.

Yes, they've been wasted into a condition where they have none of the institutions available to provide even a semblance of a society. In that context, rational action and liberal expression is ever so much rarer. In fact polls have shown that slightly over 50% do want peace with Israel, but as things continue to worsen for them, I wouldn't be surprised if the number drops to a point where Rand's statement is true.

It's been a brilliant and intentional policy to confirm exactly what some, not all, Israelis, the radical Islamic groups, and more so groups over here want to hear: "Palestinians don't want peace." So the settlements can stay and the walls can go up and neither the Jew nor the Arab can look to a future other than war.

The fact is that it wasn't the Arabs who gassed the Jews. It was white Europeans. The Palestinians paid the price for their innocence at the time. You can't view them as the aggressors in the historical context of the situation. If we were serious about peacemaking we could be much more involved in a constructive manner, particularly from a humanitarian perspective in terms of health care, schools, jobs etc. For example, what the heck did that election there achieve? We were warned that an election in the context of a corrupt Fatah movement could lead to a Hamas victory. Well Bush and Rice just powered on, Hamas won and the people there are now suffering doubly. Have you ever tried to train a dog only by punishing it? Well if you haven't good for you, because you only create a monster.

Fact is that we have no interest in the average Palestinian. That's part of the reason why Iraq failed. Our motivation in being there is so deeply suspect that no one Shia or Sunni believes we mean it when we say we want to give them democracy.

Posted by Toast_n_Tea at December 2, 2006 10:05 AM

The fact is that it wasn't the Arabs who gassed the Jews.

They would have if they could have. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was allied with the Nazis.

The Palestinians paid the price for their innocence at the time.

There's no such thing as "Palestinians." They are Arabs, and the Arab world has been using them as proxies in its war to destroy Israel since 1948.

Posted by Rand Simberg at December 2, 2006 10:49 AM

"I'm talking serious peacemaking starting with the Palestinian-Israeli issue."

"It's not possible to do "peacemaking" when one side doesn't want peace. Or when their definition of peace is the destruction of the other side. The Palestinians will get peace when they give up their goal of the destruction of Israel."

I think we know why Samuel Colt called his revolver the Peacemaker.

Posted by Gus at December 2, 2006 12:11 PM

Call them Arabs, Palestinians or whatever, there were a very large number of people who had roots in the area displaced to allow the state of Israel to take shape. Even the founders of the state of Israel recognized the questionable morality of this action but in the light of the Holocaust felt that they had no choice but to proceed. Yes, this displaced people were used as proxies, but that doesn't make them any less a victim, just as the Jews were victims in Europe.

The theme has of course been played into the dominant argument about the hypocrisy of the West by the Arabs. And so based in fact and having taken a mythic form it is one of those matters that colors the thinking of any Middle Eastern discussion.

What I'm saying is that this issue negates our capability to convince the Iraqis that we are seriously concerned with their development into a democracy.

Also re. the Grand Mufti etc. Jews lived more peacefully and productively under Arab rule for hundreds of years as compared to under European rule. No Arab ruler ever planned the thoughtful and systematic extermination of a race; that had to be left to the Germans under Hitler.

Jordan's King Abdullah has said that more can be done to quell the rising tide of Islamism in the area by active engagement in this issue than any other. Given that he is one of the best hopes for a moderate Islamic quasi democracy in the region, we should pay close attention when he says that.

Posted by Toast_n_Tea at December 2, 2006 12:42 PM

"america is Big, we don't need friends".

The words of a bully, not a decent human being.

The biggest of all people work the hardest to
make friends. It's the little guys who
are to small to make friends.

Posted by anonymous at December 3, 2006 11:16 AM

The biggest of all people work the hardest to
make friends. It's the little guys who
are to small to make friends.

This coming from a guy who called a stranger a cocksucker. I guess that makes you a little guy, eh anonymous?

Posted by Leland at December 3, 2006 12:30 PM

"The words of a bully, not a decent human being.

The biggest of all people work the hardest to
make friends. It's the little guys who
are to small to make friends."

...and we all know you are Dale Carnagie reincarnated don't we? If there is one thing you have proven during your parasitic tenure her, it is you relly know how to make lots of friends!

Sweet irony can be so delicious sometimes! The moonbat self-paradoies!

Posted by Mike Puckett at December 3, 2006 01:40 PM

"The biggest of all people work the hardest to
make friends. It's the little guys who
are to small to make friends."

I just fwowed up.

Posted by Andrea Harris at December 3, 2006 06:09 PM

Mike

Given your fondness for anal rape, riding the short bus
and calling names, you are no paragon of virtue.

Posted by anonymous at December 3, 2006 06:58 PM

Actually, it's your fondenss for those things that the problem. I just call things like they are. If you want it called something else, change it. The power is in your hands.

As to my being a font of virtue, I save mine for real people, not parasitic blog-trolls. If you want virtue from me, try earning it by acting with a minimal amount of rationality and sanity.

It you chose to place yourself at the level of dog poop on a shoe by your actions, that is your choice, not mine.

Posted by Mike Puckett at December 4, 2006 07:57 AM


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