Captain's Quarters

It's not often that you see this on the conservative blog captainsquartersblog.com, but a commenter named Jack had this great insight in a thread that I've been frequenting, trying to stir up debate on the Iraq War. Jack put up a much better argument against the war than I did. Here it is:

I want Bin Laden. I might have supported a campaign in Iraq after we finished in Afghanistan but not in 2003 and not today. Splitting our objectives wasn't justified. Destabilizing the region when we did wasn't justified. My buddies and I can't spin a pretty picture on this no matter how hard we try. When we left Iraq after Dessert Storm, we knew why we left Saddam behind. Nothing changed in that region 10 years later. Nothing. W doesn't have the good grace and genius senior had. He went into Iraq knowing he was going to destabilize and with no plan on getting us out again. Saying "we're replacing tyranny with a democracy" is no exit strategy. It's a commitment and now we're committed and Bin Laden is still out there encouraging more recruits.

We all know by now what makes radical Islamic terrorists: (1) worldview: their strict religious beliefs, hatred of all things American, our lifestyle, our music, our diversity, our women's freedoms, etc.; (2) culture: economic despair, poverty (for most of them, not Bin Laden), a general culture of despair giving them the idea they have nothing to lose by martyrdom; (3) the means: opportunities for aggression through financing and territorial support.
Our campaign in the middle east is only addressing getting rid of the opportunities, the safe havens, financial support and so forth. We're not getting at terrorism where it lives, AND BREEDS, in ideology, in the minds of Islam.

In Iraq in the 90's we learned that Islamics hate each other more than GOPs and DEMS, way more. I know. It's hard to believe. The liberals and moderates in Islam are choking under the fundamentalists; they hate their violence, their holier than thou attitudes, everything. You fight a war on terror supporting the liberal and moderate Islamics, and through other means that create cultures of opportunity for Islamics. If they've got something to lose in this world, they don't become martyrs. That's the theory. I've seen it work. Really.

Bush Sr. knew this. W' doesn't get it. And now he's stuck, doesn't want to eat humble pie. He's trapped us all. He should have listened to his Dad. I could get behind Sr. 100%. Now we got an occupation that's depleting our military with Iran and N. Korea thumping their chests and threatening nukes.

You got to pick your battles. This is hard to say, hear and read but, W screwed up big. We needed to stay focused in Afghanistan. Iraqis now need to take over and show they want their democracy.

I'm a John Wayne admirer, quiet authority. Senior Bush had that. W's more like Aldo Ray on Meth. We've got to stop buying into W's "cut and run" criticism. He's going to look worse when he's left with no choice but to pull out. I want to see a clear-headed strategist over the next two years.

Anyway, the Dems are starting to circulate a plan. Something they're calling "Real" Security. I read it. Here's the link. We need to be prepared 'cause this is what they're going to be running with in November and again in 2008.
http://democrats.senate.gov/pdfs/RealSecurity_web.pdf
Posted by: Jack M. at July 13, 2006 11:33 AM