An AC Experiment: What Would Failure in Iraq Look Like?
From Bush's speech:
In our discussions, we all agreed that there is no magic formula for success in Iraq. And one message came through loud and clear: Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States. The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On September the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq.
I would not consider myself well educated on the goings on of the activities in the world and the contents of the interactions between country leaders. Pardon my ignorance, but after having seen President Bush's latest speech, I have some questions which I can't seem to find the answers of even after researching. A couple of the questions that stand out would be the following.
1. Who (or what) decides what "failure in Iraq" is?
2. Who (or what) decides what the "consequences of failure" are going to be?
Is there a top secret think tank somewhere that makes all these decisions and predictions? Is it the president of the United States that decides? Is it the people of the United States that decide? Is it the leader(s) of Iraq that decides? Is it the people of Iraq that decide?
Let us take a look at some possible explanations using a pseudo-conversation between two people named Fel and Humaar where Fel says something and Humaar gives a response to it.
I have heard President Bush talk a lot about failure in Iraq, but am not completely sure what is meant by that. Here are some things that I have heard.
A failure in Iraq would be...
Fel: anything involving the US calling it quits and leaving Iraq.
Humaar: us not cutting our losses and not calling it quits and leaving Iraq right now.
Fel: when the terrorists kill thousands of people in Iraq after we leave right now.
Humaar: when thousands of our troops and Iraqi people die from us going through with this "war."
Fel: when we leave the Iraqi people to defend for themselves against the terrorists if we leave their support now.
Humaar: more and more Iraqi citizens dying as a result of this "war."
Fel: us realizing after we call the war off that all of our troops that died in the war died for nothing.
Humaar: when after this "war" is finished and we conclude the "war" didn't accomplish anything of value, we realize that all the troops that died from the war died for nothing and that a lot of the troops would still be alive had we been wise enough to admit that withdrawing would have been the best approach in the past.
Near the end of that little quote snippet, President Bush talks about the consequences of failure. Fel will paraphrase some of those consequences and bring in some of his own based on what people have been saying.
The consequences of failure would be...
Fel: the US would lose support of the citizens of Iraq if we withdraw our troops.
Humaar: the citizens of Iraq won't have to worry about their loved ones (Iraqi troops) dying because of this "war."
Fel: there would be more killing as the terrorists will have won against the US and have gained confidence in what they do.
Humaar: most of the people that are dying as a result of this war, are they terrorists or American and Iraqi troops? And what does a "terrorist" mean nowadays?
Fel: the terrorists will grow in strength and number, so our success in Iraq is very important not only for us but for the whole world.
Humaar: unknown. What does "success in Iraq" mean? What evidence do you have that implied the strength and number will grow if we are to "fail" this "war."
Fel: the US will be at a greater risk for attack if we fail. We cannot forget why we are in this war.
Humaar: unknown. Why are we in this war? What is the difference between defending our nation and attacking another?
Feel free to post as a Fel or as a Humaar (or maybe something totally different, like an Asad) and post your thoughts and views on this. I honestly don't know much about the FACTS to make any conclusions but I can definitely share my opinions based on what I DO know. So what are your opinions or views or thoughts on this?
Published by Kantus
I love writing short stories and humor articles, but tend to stick with topics that are discoverable by search engines and capable of spreading virally. View profile
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20 Comments
Post a CommentMahmoud Ahmadinejad. He would be tickled to see us believe that we have done all we can. He is the only person right now who is content with all of the academic wish-wash in the US. If we can find a way to eliminate all discussions of any concept of god and to totally eliminate that element from the controversy then we can successfully leave behind the philosophical values of this and just leave Iraq on the next plane out. I launch to that from here: if we back off they "win" and then they will see themselves and their "god" as victorious. That is what will happen and their assumed superiority will create a feeding frenzy. We might all know that there is no real god who wins...but, try to tell a native American in the seventeen hundreds that a bunch of tobacco smoke did not have spirits in it... and, maybe it did... we might just be all wrong. Now, let's get back to eliminating that god thing...
How about we are already failed? The new intel report today says there are Shias fighting Shias in the South, sectarian Shia/Sunni violence raging in Bahgdad, insurgent activity targeting our troops, and Al Qaeda elements in different pockets of the country.... Its a more than a civil war... You can't fix a broken egg, you can get your fingers all gooey trying... But it won't change anything.
Adding more US troops to a situation in which they are already unwelcome, and in which there is no clear goal, is an affront to the troops. Saying "stay the course" while people are killing, dying, getting their arms blown off and watching their friends die is simply not going to cut it, especially when the civilian leadership is ignoring the advice of military experts, the American people and the Iraqi people, all of which oppose this escalation in Iraq.
Kristina, I don't know where you are getting your info, outside of the Bush administration. Soldiers are not pushing for the surge as you say--they take orders from their chain of command. many generals, retired and active, have expressed their opinion that a surge in troops will not achieve anything because the problem is political and not military in nature. You offer nothing to back up your claim that pulling out would be bad for Iraq and the American people--nothing. The truth is that a phased withdrawal will force all factions of the conflict to find a solution to their differences.
It is hard to know what success or failure in Iraq would look like. What I do know is that most of the soldiers are pushing for the surge to stabalize the country and then start pulling out. I would have to say right now, the surge in soldiers is a positive step forward if we want success in Iraq. Pulling out right now would not be good for the Iraqi government nor would it be the right thing for the American people. Unfortunately, staying in Iraq would mean more sacrifices for our soldiers and military families, but I believe we need to stay the course if we want some sort of success.
The definitiion of failure in Iraq would be a scenario which would follow the hasty pullout favored by such people as Dennis Kucinich: The establishment and emergence of two separate caliphates, one Sunni and another Shia, irrespective of current boundaries and borders. Such an occurrence would lead to a conflict which would dwarf the present one in scope, in blood, and in future world security. It's sad that Eastern and Western Europe (with the exception of the British) has not lent more support to what is clearly in the interests of their security.
Ibraham: Actually there is a win scenereo in Iraq. There is evidence of that already. Iran's Clerics and people are showing signs of tiring of their president's radical position. The Iraqi people are growing tired of radical foreign national's acts of terrorism in their country.
There are good things happening in Iraq as well as bad. Finding good news is always more difficult. One good thing is that each day strenghtens the resolve of moderates in an area where radicalism has grown.
There is no "win" on this one, unfortunately. So, what would success/failure look like in Iraq? The answer....Bad. Either way. Bad.
Anyway, Paul, corporations are made of people. People choose to get paid by them and take what they offer. We cannot blame a man made entity for being and becoming what we have allowed of it to become. We cannot effectively wrestle the issue of victory in Iraq while we resist the very entities that we have allowed to become our allies in the fight. How much they make is not the issue at hand. The issue at hand is that in spite of the academics of the evils, we do the right thing by the Iraqis that invited the oust of Saddam signed into being by William Jefferson Clinton in 1998.
Corporations are doing what live entities do in an environment that does not resist them. They grow. People like the cradle that corporations provide so they look to be employed by and contribute to corporations rather than be free enterprising risk taking entreprenuers. I have never had a job other than self employment since I left the military and never will. I do not like to be rocked in the cradle of artificial security and illusion that corporate entities provide. The reduction of their power and influence will require actual acts that resist them. We cannot comply if we want them to go away or reduce their sphere of influence. Freedom was born in the fire of rebellion. If we forget, we will lose it.