Anti-Climacus

LINK: A little perspective on the current Iraq mess.

Also, look at some interesting arguments from Josh Chafetz (look ma! I found the permalinks!):

"Attacks like today's, atrocious as they are, don't change that dynamic. And it's heartening to see PM Berlusconi respond that, "No intimidation will budge us from our willingness to help that country rise up again and rebuild itself with self-government, security and freedom."

Second, while it would probably be a good idea to internationalize the peacekeeping force if we had that option -- I don't believe we do, but that's another matter -- I think attacks like today's put the lie to the idea that these attacks might cease if only there were an international force in Iraq. (Lest I be accused of tilting at strawmen, Messrs. Dalyell and Corbyn both made versions of this argument at the Oxford Union debate.) The recent attacks have been against international targets -- the Red Cross, the UN, and now Italian military police.

The people carrying out these attacks -- whether they're Saddam loyalists, al Qaeda members, some other group, or some mixture of the above -- want to force a withdrawl of all international troops. And they want to do it, not because they want to see Iraq run by Iraqis, but because they want to see Iraq run by themselves. But Iraqis really do want a liberal democracy. And as long as they want that, and as long as we have the political will to stay in Iraq until the job is done, then the people carrying out atrocities like these will be defeated.

I've been accused of thinking that "everything will be fine if we keep on doing what we're doing" in Iraq. I admit, that's not too far from the truth. As I said, I'm hesitantly coming around to the idea that we should have more troops there, and if the Administration tries to rush the handover of political power or military guard duties, I will not be at all happy. But it has to be a long-term strategy, and it has to involve the political will to accept that there will be a number of days like today before the guerilla war is over. "