Iraq: We Broke It. We Owned It . . .

. . . . and we walked away from it after thousands of American lives were lost and tens of thousands of American souls returned to our shores with severe physical injuries or the psychological consequences of PTSD.  To what end?

 

Old Glory at the Bridgewater Municipal Complex

That is the disgraceful result of what is today’s Iraq.  It soon is to be our fate in Afghanistan, unless the hapless policies which have emanated from Washington during the last two administrations change and align themselves with the realities that rule The Middle East.

The biggest policy mistake of Washington was to not have recognized and acknowledged what dominates the core of governance in the Arab nations of The Middle East and in Persian Iran:

Religion, and its influence upon every facet of life in that region, particularly the intertwined bond that glues it to the area’s political structures.

When George W. Bush invaded Iraq and naïvely thought that the U.S. could establish an enduring democracy through the electoral process in that country, he made perhaps the worst foreign policy calculation of his career.

When Barack Obama declared that the war on terrorism was over shortly after the killing of Osama bin Laden, he compounded Bush’s mistake by pulling out all U.S. troops too soon, one of the worst foreign policy calculations of that career.

Chasing Evil . . .

. . . around the globe is not America’s job.

This Administration’s ballooning involvement in prewar preparations against Syria was about to become a tipping point which – if it already hasn’t been reached – could have embroiled the U.S. in another international conflict lasting well beyond the second term of President Barack Obama, the man who has become irrevocably tied to the phrase “crossing the red line.”

But who is it, exactly, that was about to cross that red line into the abyss of unintended consequences?

Warfare is a hazardous undertaking.  There are times which require it.  And there are times when it is wiser to seek a more practical solution.

Ready! Fire! Aim . . . .

 . . . is what seems to be the U.S. Administration’s foreign policy stance towards Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad.



 President Barack Obama responds to journalists
 at the White House. Says no decision has yet been
made concerning a possible strike on Syrian targets
 as of Friday afternoon, August 30, 2013.
 (TV Screen Shot/CNN)

No visible end game has been presented to the American people, as the Commander-in-Chief prepares to give the order to launch cruise missiles over Syrian skies:  There has yet to be a clearly articulated rationale for what President Obama plans to do after the “shock and awe” of the missile barrage have subsided.

What his advisors have told the world up to now is what the Administration won’t do; namely, that the United States is not seeking to depose Assad.  No regime change is anticipated as a direct result of this imminent air strike.

What if They Started a War . . .

. . .  and other countries showed up, but the U.S. declined to participate?  Unfortunately, that is not what our leaders in Washington have chosen to do. 

Instead, the Obama administration has agreed to involve us in another Middle East conflict, this time with Syria.

Street fighting rages in the cities and towns of Syria
as rebel groups including anti-American factions
such as Hezbollah strive to topple President Bashar
al Assad.  (TV Screen Shot/Credit Fox News)

It began with Syrian demonstrations in 2011 – those have since morphed into another of the area’s sectarian-driven Islamist civil wars, this one against President Bashar al Assad.  Estimates of total casualties stand at 93,000, and additional thousands of refugees have fled across Syria’s northern border to Turkey.

The Obama administration recently announced that it will supply military assistance to Syrian rebels, and that it will funnel that assistance through General Salim Idriss, a Syrian exile.  As leader of the Supreme Military Council, Idriss holds together a fragile coalition of anti-Assad rebel fighters, the Free Syrian Army.