Jed, I appreciate the exchange. I am going to pick one final nit, a nit I picked in the original column. You believe that building a democratic government in Iraq necessarily distracts and delays us from the necessary business of conquering the wider enemy. I do not think that needs to be so, think, in fact, that Iraq, newly constituted, may be an effective ally and forward base in that war. The Iraqis hate “the guys in black turbans” (i.e., the mullahs, the Taliban, etc.) as much as we do. And, given the map of the middle east, I believe Iraq, right in the middle of the muddle, presents a special case for nation-building, one that could not be made for, say, Syria, and that we should not need to make for Iran, once the mullahs are deposed. Question here: Can the mullahs be deposed without outright war? For example, via naval blockade?
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
H/T to National Review Online