Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Don't look now (and not many Americans are)...

but Iraq is becoming the nightmare that those of us who resisted the US invasion said it would. To be honest, I'm conflicted about this recent violence. On one hand, I'd like Iraq to quiet down and become a decently-functional state so that (1) we could get the hell out with a minimum of egg on our face, and (2) Obama's administration wouldn't remain tarnished by our ongoing presence there. On the other hand, I'd love it if the place would turn into a violent conflict-plagued dictatorship that hated the US, so that the US would learn from that experience and stop its continued intrusion in other countries' affairs. On balance, because I doubt that US politicians won't ever learn the latter lesson, no matter how many failures our invasions create, I favor peace and governance in Iraq, and not for any of the above reasons, but because I feel for the poor Iraqis who didn't ask for any of this, and who deserve a place of decency, security and calm.