This article is largely a narrative dealing with diplomats gathering data on the ground in Iraq and how prominent experts arrived at their decision to decry or support the invasion of Iraq, so I’ve just set up a list that sweeps up the main points:
There are signs of a growing sense of political compromise underneath the thick layer of ubiquitous violence
Kissinger’s “realist” analysis that lead him to support the invasion of Iraq lacked the “Bush Doctrine’s” idealistic strains, focusing on power politics, instead of “spreading democracy, etc.”
It seems to a large degree the war in Iraq was a product of a 30-year fad in policy analysis that cast the US as participating in a two-generation struggle with “radical” Islam.
This sense of certainty and inevitability made planning for the occupation and rebuilding of Iraq seem like an unnecessary afterthought. The official statements that delineated the US’s objectives in Iraq had little to do with the reality of the situation their pursuit created.
The continued occupation of Iraq is a symptom of that shortsightedness.
War of the Imagination
ReplyDeleteThis article is largely a narrative dealing with diplomats gathering data on the ground in Iraq and how prominent experts arrived at their decision to decry or support the invasion of Iraq, so I’ve just set up a list that sweeps up the main points:
There are signs of a growing sense of political compromise underneath the thick layer of ubiquitous violence
Kissinger’s “realist” analysis that lead him to support the invasion of Iraq lacked the “Bush Doctrine’s” idealistic strains, focusing on power politics, instead of “spreading democracy, etc.”
It seems to a large degree the war in Iraq was a product of a 30-year fad in policy analysis that cast the US as participating in a two-generation struggle with “radical” Islam.
This sense of certainty and inevitability made planning for the occupation and rebuilding of Iraq seem like an unnecessary afterthought. The official statements that delineated the US’s objectives in Iraq had little to do with the reality of the situation their pursuit created.
The continued occupation of Iraq is a symptom of that shortsightedness.