Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Ace Hanlon]

Conservtive fund manager John Hussman on Iraq:


"There is no shortage of quasi-intellectuals surrounding the Administration, particularly from the American Enterprise Institute, who have long supported “finishing the job” in Iraq, and advocate a theory of democratizing the Middle East through force. It is doubtful that the American public would have willingly bought into the idea of placing the lives of our troops at risk for the sake of these theories, regardless of the appeal of freeing Iraqis from a brutal dictator. The proper and humanitarian opportunity to remove Hussein was when he was gassing the Kurds – which could have been a multinational effort with much less risk to U.S. troops. In any event, the path to war was undoubtedly paved by blurring the distinction between those actually responsible for our suffering on 9/11, and the more expedient target of Iraq, which was driven by a separate agenda.

Occupation by its nature foments hatred. Our obligation now is to see the situation clearly; to look for truth without filtering it through anger, pride, and suffering. The safety of our troops cannot be separated from perceptions of the U.S. as an occupying force. In the occupation of the Philippines in the early 1900's, the U.S. was forced to maintain over 50,000 troops and a presence for over a decade, despite successful strikes on rebel leaders and magnanimous efforts in building schools, hospitals and public infrastructure. As historian Martin Gilbert wrote, “it was the tactics of guerrilla fighting that proved impossible for even the most disciplined army to master. The guerrilla forces could melt away… as soon as they made their strike, and then regroup whenever they decided to strike again. During one such attack, three American officers and forty-eight of their men were killed.”

The situation in Iraq will not be changed simply by running elections of U.S. appointed candidates, which would probably risk widespread boycotts. It certainly will not be changed by plans to “privatize” the Iraqi oil industry. The best way to achieve peace is through actions that contain peace – limit the use of purely retaliatory strikes, shift enforcement to a broader NATO coalition, abandon plans to privatize Iraqi resources, and delegate civil matters to the United Nations. It is essential for this process to end in a stable and agreeable government in Iraq, but this does not require exclusive U.S. control. This has been said before, of course, both here and elsewhere. But each day that an American soldier's family has to bear the sorrow of a misguided and ill-conceived foreign policy, it becomes obvious that it hasn't been said enough. "