Ross makes the necessary point vis a vis the furor over Reid’s acknowledgment that we have, in fact, lost the war in Iraq: Unless you want to take the insane position that it’s just impossible for the U.S. to ever lose a war As Long As Our Faith Is Strong, then at some point it has to be both accurate and (assuming the appropriate response to having lost a war is to stop fighting it) morally appropriate to say so. Needlessly harming troop morale is bad. Trying to end an already-failed mission before more lives are lost is good. Since these are both fairly obvious, time spent fuming is wasted: Nobody who thinks Reid’s statement is plainly false needs to be convinced to be upset about it, and nobody who thinks it’s true will think it’s anything to be upset about. So if the outrage brigades are going to spend their soundbites on anything, it would seem they ought to be spending it pointing out why what Reid said is false, not how outrageous it is supposing that it’s false. That doesn’t seem to be a burden many of them are eager to take up.
Not Just a River in Egypt. And If It Were, We’d Invade It.
April 23rd, 2007 · 3 Comments
Tags: War
3 responses so far ↓
1 Glen // Apr 23, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I assume you were typing fast and omitted a few crucial words: “…As Long As Our Faith in Our Leader Is Strong…” And as long as Our Faith and Our Leader are strong, whom shall we fear?
I like the term, “outrage brigade.” Like the Fighting Keyborders and the God Squad, it has the right ring. You probably should have copyrighted it.
2 Anonymous // Apr 23, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I honestly have no idea what it means to “win” the war in Iraq. I would love to see a measurable definition, and I would like to see those who think we can win provide some data to show that we are on an upward trajectory toward the win. If they can’t, then I say we are losing, based on the # of insurgent attacks, Iraqi emigration, polls of Iraqi support, etc. W is like a pitcher down 10-1 in the seventh inning. He will be replaced in the eighth, and in all probability he will be credited with losing the game. If a miracle occurs, and the reliever (Hillary? Obama?) manages to luck into a victory, then they get the credit for the win — not W.
3 Adam // Apr 24, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I think that a “win” for the United States would be a reduction of violence in Iraq and the Iraqi government’s having demonstrated it can govern and maintain peace without a significant US military and support staff presence.
This would require a significant increase and prolonged time-commitment of soldiers and money. And it is obvious that America has neither the financial resources nor the manpower nor the political will to adequately shoulder such a committment.
It makes me very frustrated that the Bush Administration was so cavalier about going to war in the first place, but has not the will, no seemingly the interest (ex. John Bolton saiying we should just hand the Iraqi’s a copy of the Federalist Papers, and then headout) in making sure that the mess we’ve made is cleaned up.