Over at Informed Comment today, Juan Cole reports speculation that Cheney might ask the Egyptians for troops to help in Iraq. If true, it would further discredit Bush’s claim to be committed to the reconstruction of Iraq. If Bush were serious, he would do whatever he could to send American troops, maintain unified command, clear communication, and avoid all of the shenanigans that Clinton and Bush I ran into when they used a hodge-podge of peacekeeping troops in the 1990s. In fact, Bush has done everything in his power to avoid putting his vision to the ultimate test: a draft. He knows he doesn’t have the support, and so has resorted to the backdoor draft of ‘stop-loss’ programs, and breaking contracts with soldiers and National Guardsmen. We’re not saying we want a draft, nor more US troops in Iraq – better that they withdraw immediately. But for all Bush’s claims to follow principle wherever it leads him, and do what is necessary, sending Cheney hat-in-hand to Cairo, is a weak, unconfident substitute for trying to convince his own public of the worth of this whole endeavor. He once said 'bring it on', now he's running from the fight.
4 Comments:
Interesting. Often, leftist critiques of the war are so caught up in their polemical anti-imperialism, that they miss out how much of the destructive dynamic of this war comes from the pusillanimity of the US and its allies as much as any ruthless determination.
Another sign of this pusillanimity, I think, is the way that apologists for the war constantly seem to cower behind the phantom figure of an 'elected Iraqi government' - along the lines of, 'We'll go when the Iraqis tell us to go, and not before, we don't want to betray our allies'. This line of argument betrays, I think, a lack of vision and self-interest underlying the US military presence in Iraq, an inability to justify that presence.
Incidentally, there was an idea a while back that never took off, to organise a joint peacekeeping mission from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to supplement coalition forces in Iraq - it came to nothing as the insurgency took off. If Cheney really is begging Cairo, it is a sure sign of desperation.
I don't know what you mean by lack of vision and self-interest. What about oil? Although I agree with you about the phantom figure of the elected government.
Well, I don't if it's 'pusillanimity' but it sure does seem like this administration changes the reason it went to war every three months or so. Somehow, I don't think we can just write that off as various unsuccessful attempts to cover up ulterior motives. There's something really desperate and un-premeditated about all this. At the very least, Bush seems to feel some kind of need to explain himself - what were all those speeches about a few weeks ago, and why did Rice publish that editorial about democratic peace?
My read of the Cheney's visit to Egypt is that he's going there to turn the screws. For what, I don't know. Egyptian troops at this point seems impossible, if just logistically, IMHO.
Wouldn't one send Condi to supplicate?
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