Between Iraq and another hard place
The Iraq fiasco
‘President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 ultimately may come to be seen as one of the most profligate actions in the history of American foreign policy” according to Tom Ricks, Washington Post columnist and author of the bestseller Fiasco: The American Military Invasion in Iraq. He concludes ‘Democracy may yet come to Iraq and the region, but so too may civil war or a regional conflagration, which in turn could lead to spiraling oil prices and a global economic shock’ The US will probably have combat troops in Iraq for ten to fifteen years. He is a contributor to the PBS Film ‘The Lost Year in Iraq’ that relates how the United States reached the predicament it is in. An on line interview with Ricks recorded yesterday brings his analysis up do date.This terse ten word summary from a military chief in Iraq on the new American chain of command and strategy is worth repeating : ‘Bottom line - right people - right strategy - too little – too late.’
The other hard place: Afghanistan
It’s also going to be ten to fifteen years for us in Afghanistan. Word from Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the new British Ambassador is the task of shoring up a government in that war-torn nation will be a “marathon rather than a sprint. ” Britain is establishing a larger embassy in Kabul than we have in Washington. Evidently the Taliban don’t like that idea. News from the Taliban is they are adopting the strategies of Iraqi insurgents with Kabul in their sights.
The right strategy
Recognise the risks of civil wars ‘or a regional conflagration that will lead to spiralling oil prices and a global economic shock” with war time economies burdened by inflation.