Sorry for the blogging delay. We're taking the HB and the nephew to DC tomorrow, so between getting ready for that, wrapping up work stuff and the tournament I haven't had all the extra blogging time that I've wanted.
As I reflect on the 5th birthday of the War in Iraq, I'm struck by how much time, effort, money and lives we've spent and what's been gained from it. If you are of the opinion that Saddam Hussein was a menace to the world and was *this* close to blowing up all of his enemies (or obtaining weapons that could do so), then this whole thing is an unqualified success. Likewise, if you think that our foreign policy should be to depose dictators who treat their populations like shit, then the mission has been accomplished.
I'm of the opinion that the whole thing was a gigantic mistake and I don't think that our policy makers know what "winning" is there (I know that McCain can't define it). Best I can tell, we've swapped one totalitarian regime for another in terms of women's rights and religious freedom. Also, we created a situation where Al Quaeda could flourish where it had not previously. Interestingly, the Bush administration crows about the fact that local Sunnis are NOW fighting against Al Queda. Great, only five years to get without shouting distance of the status quo.
We broke it, and now it's so fucked up it's hard to leave without it imploding militarily (though now that most areas have been ethnically cleansed, it might not be as big of a deal now). And the powers that be in Iraq don't want us to leave because it's our reconstruction spending that props up the economy. Something tells me that no matter the outcome of our election, we'll be putting another candle on this cake next year.
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