Thursday, October 11, 2007

Iraq: Time to declare victory and leave?

This article in Prospect magazine lays out an argument for declaring victory: with al-Qaeda being increasingly rolled up, and the civil sectarian strife no longer threatening to blow up into full scale civil war, the U.S. military mission is becoming a flea hunt. Baghdad is not going to become Brussels anytime soon, but this article alleges that, while the current situation is undoubtedly very bad, the worst is over.

It is good to hear an assessment highlighting the, er, highlights for once. But so long as Iran is sending arms to the enemy, and Syria is sending fighters, and Saudi Arabia is sending money and inspiration...well, that's a rough neighborhood for a nascent democracy to try to sort itself out in. Left to itself, Iraq might well grow their democratic government in these arabian sands that are historically unreceptive to democracy. We can only hope. Especially so, if the American military has done everything that can reasonably be done in Iraq.

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