So Iraq is celebrating… what? America’s victory over Iraq? That can’t be right. Iraq’s victory over America? Implausible. But every nation needs a day to parade its army. Live it up, friends. The feeling is mutual, I’m sure.
I can’t tell from the story how we’re supposed to feel about this. Not proud, certainly. Putting down an Arab rabble doesn’t quite swell the breast like smashing the Kaiser’s legions. Nor could I plausibly feel relieved, since the bad news from the Levant had already slowed to a trickle. Numb? Yes, that’s about right. The Iraq engagement ended for me years ago when I began resolutely changing the channel whenever the topic intruded.
We would have saved so much time and trouble if we just would have conquered Iraq and handed the keys to Baghdad over to Iran. A reformed Persian Empire might indeed be just what the US needs to further its strategic goals in the region.
Or we could have stayed out of it entirely. But that’s just crazy talk.
Comment by Gabe — July 2, 2009 @ 10:36 am