All over the world, scoundrels are ascendant, rising on a tide of American weakness. It makes for a perilous future.
President Bush bet his presidency – and America’s world leadership – on the war in Iraq. Tragically, it looks as though he bit off more than the American people were willing to chew.
The United States is failing in Iraq. Bush’s policy was repudiated by the American people in the last election. And now America’s enemies and rivals are pressing their advantage, including Iran, Syria, the Taliban, Sudan, Russia and Venezuela. We have yet to hear from Al Qaeda.
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman had it right this week in saying that America has two choices in Iraq – a 10-month strategy of withdrawal or a 10-year strategy of “re-invasion” and rebuilding the country from the ground up, probably requiring 150,000 additional U.S. troops.
Along with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the editors of the Weekly Standard and some formerly antiwar retired generals, I favor the latter option, but it’s obvious that the American people don’t.
Conceivably, they could be persuaded to support a true “victory” strategy if President Bush made a strong case for more troops, more money and more time. But he is not doing so.
On Nov. 7, the public rejected his old strategy, based on a limited U.S. “footprint” and training for Iraqi forces – a strategy that has not worked to produce a stable Iraq.
To the contrary, the savage enemies of stability and democracy – Sunni insurgents, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen and plain old criminals – have turned Iraq into a slaughterhouse. The Iraqi government is either unable or unwilling to stop what’s become a low-grade civil war.
Bush reiterated more than once this week that he will “not leave until the job is done,” but his only change in tactics seems to be to shift some troops to Baghdad and hasten a transfer of security responsibilities to the inept Iraqi government.
Next week, the Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., will issue a report that is likely to weaken Bush’s hand even further.
Advance indications are that it will call for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, without a timetable, as well as regional negotiations involving Syria and Iran – countries that have been doing their utmost to destroy America’s position in the Middle East.
As evidence mounts that Bush and America are in a weakened position, America’s enemies are on the advance.
With maximum chutzpah, Iran’s radical president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, went so far as to write an open letter to the American people this week seeking to undermine Bush’s domestic position by denouncing “the many wars and calamities caused by the U.S. administration.”
That won’t have much effect, but the fact is that Iran is winning its struggle against the United States. In Iraq, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are equipping the Mahdi Army of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, which is gaining strength amid the sectarian warfare.
Iran continues working on a nuclear arsenal, protected from international sanctions by Russia and China and Bush’s international weakness. Along with its ally, Syria, Iran is financing and arming the radical group Hezbollah, which is seeking to bring down the government of Lebanon.
Lebanon’s expulsion of Syrian forces in 2005, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was one of the high points of U.S. influence in the Mideast.
Also in 2005, nearly 75 percent of eligible Iraqis – including Sunnis – voted for a new constitution and then a new government, another high point for Bush and his drive to bring democracy to the Middle East.
