Posted by
America Forever on Monday, November 27, 2006 12:53:00 AM
Will Baker Be Bush's Undoing?
In all fairness to James Baker, he cannot be held responsible for George W. Bush's potential lack of resolve on the war in Iraq as a part of the larger war against Islamic fascists. The problem is squarely on President Bush's shoulders. In fact, the problem is more definitively his because he took us to war and steadfastly declared that he would not wilt.
Well, Mr. President, we thought you were right then and we still think that you are right now (in spite of our reservations about how the war has been conducted since May of 2003). We still want to win the war although the proof of our victory is unlikely to be in the form of a stable Iraq. Unlikely, that is, unless the Iraqi leaders can find themselves willing to keep Iraq on the American side of issues, and opposed to Islamic fascism both Sunni and Shia. But this is just a battle in our larger war and we must continue to wage and win the war for our civilization.
From a physical point-of-view, we can get out of Iraq at any time we wish. It is not a quagmire and we would not face significant losses in men (unless our military is forced to evacuate under the limited terms of engagement we have fought under so far). We can withdraw our troops to Kuwait, the Gulf States and Afghanistan, and keep the pressure up on Iran and Iraq (to the extent that becomes necessary). Hey, there's no guarantee that we will be welcome even in those so-called moderate states much longer and so we would need to be nimble.
The fact is that if we are to be successful in the larger war, from a political point-of-view, however, we cannot leave Iraq under the likely proposals of the Baker-led commission. Secretary Baker cannot save the Bush presidency as Newsweek, for one, seems to believe or, more likely, mock that he can and should. Following the advice of Baker would, however, in my opinion, doom the Bush 43 Presidency in the way that he and his ilk made the Bush 41 Presidency a mediocrity. And, when you get right down to it, I'm not sure we should care what can be done to save the Bush 43 Presidency. We should care about what can be done to save this country.
And, President Bush has to-date done well in fighting the war in Iraq, even though he hasn't fought the war as fiercely as he needs to. Leaving Iraq prematurely and ignominiously will hurt this country's chances of winning the larger war.
At some point, if we feel that abandoning the Iraqi battlefield is to our political and military advantage in the larger war, we should do so. If we do so, we should not do so with a whimper. The larger war is a psychological war more so than a battlefield war. Heck, even fighting the war as we've done with both hands tied behind our backs, we have not lost on the ground. If we leave Iraq for tactical reasons, however, we can do so only AFTER we kick some major-league butt, Sunni insurgent and Shia militia alike.