On Iraq and Chechnya

Iraq is a failed state now. Security is consistently ranked the highest priority for voters in this election and that failure is the biggest threat to our security today. Though most Democrats resisted the invasion in the first place, we are there now and if we fail to rebuild the country a new generation of terrorist will plague us in ways that should be kept only in the realm of Hollywood movies. It is fast becoming what Afghanistan was twenty years ago when the disgruntled and aimless youth of Middle East found cause in defeating a foreign aggressor and later banded together to blow up embassies, barracks, refueling warships and finally punched a hole in the Manhattan skyline.

Contrary to Bush’s narrow-minded view, we will fail by getting stuck in Iraq just as much we will fail if we make a hasty withdrawal. Bush has openly advocated the endless attrition warfare policies of Russia and Israel, owners of the two bloodiest quagmires on the planet – Chechnya and Palestine. Wake up. It’s not working. Palestine has resisted occupation sense 1967. Chechnya has been a sea of blood for a decade now. It won’t work in Iraq. It’s obviously not working now. Things are horrible and getting worse.

John Kerry will not “cut and run,” but he won’t be setting a policy to ensure that we stay in Iraq for a decade to come. Though both candidates fully support training Iraqi’s to rescue their own country, they will not be able to secure their country from the insurgents in a timely manner. Kerry advocates bringing the allies back to the table: yes, that includes the French and Germans. The Germans have already signaled that though reluctant, they can be talked into sending troops. Though multi-lateralizing Iraq isn’t a magic pill it should bring the benefit of new ideas, extra hands, and trust-building checks and balances against any one occupier’s interests that are absent now.

The simple fact is we need all the help we can get to make the streets of Iraq safe enough to walk and vote in. We have paid a heavy cost for Bush’s arrogance and overconfidence. Though the US military today is the most professional and respected armed force in the world, we do not have an Army built for occupation. The militaries of Europe stand second only to our own in ability and have trained for half a century to fight alongside us. A failed Iraq perhaps even a more ominous cloud for them than us – they’re much closer. We will have to pay the price for their support. We will have to accept some input and may even hand many of our puppet-string powers in Iraq, like hand-picking former CIA operatives as the Prime Minister, over to the United Nations. This alternative seems far better than the alternative of Iraq becoming our own Chechnya.