Iraq War: Zooming Out
Jules Crittenden posted yesterday that it’s business as usual in Baghdad. After President Bush implored al-Maliki to target both Sunni and Shiite militias, he’s decided to start with the Sunni even though the Shiites are causing more deaths. It may seem at first that the United States has no right to interfere with its military forces because this is an internal Iraqi affair. It’s Shia versus Sunni. It’s sect on sect war.
Lets zoom out a little. We’ve invaded Iraq and deposed their leadership. We’ve helped to set up a new democratic form of government. We’ve done so in order to place a democracy in the midst of a stronghold of ignorance, oppression, and hate. We’re hoping it does well, increases the standard of living for Iraqis, and inspires its neighbors to do the same. The United States has a vested interest in seeing that Iraq remains free. The choice is facing the puppet of a nuclear Iran just south of a terrorist supporting Syria in a later conflict. That, of all things, has to be averted.
This cannot be accomplished, however, without getting into those pesky things on the ground that certain voices disingenuously claim “aren’t our problem.”
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