Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
- 4,092
- 452
- 48
Very good question Krauthammer has come up with, and a column well worth reading.
Can the Iraqis Keep Their Republic?
By Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post
November 17, 2006
"A republic, if you can keep it." (Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, in answer to "What have we got?")
WASHINGTON -- We have given the Iraqis a republic, and they do not appear able to keep it.
Americans flatter themselves that they are the root of all planetary evil. Nukes in North Korea? Poverty in Bolivia? Sectarian violence in Iraq? Breasts are beaten and fingers pointed as we try to somehow locate the root cause in America.
Our discourse on Iraq has followed the same pattern. Where did we go wrong? Too few troops? Too arrogant an occupation? Or too soft? Take your pick.
I have my own theories. In retrospect, I think we made several serious mistakes -- not shooting looters, not installing an Iraqi exile government right away, and not taking out Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army in its infancy in 2004 -- that greatly compromised the occupation. Nonetheless, the root problem lies with Iraqis and their political culture.
for full article:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/11/can_the_iraqis_keep_their_repu.html
Can the Iraqis Keep Their Republic?
By Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post
November 17, 2006
"A republic, if you can keep it." (Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, in answer to "What have we got?")
WASHINGTON -- We have given the Iraqis a republic, and they do not appear able to keep it.
Americans flatter themselves that they are the root of all planetary evil. Nukes in North Korea? Poverty in Bolivia? Sectarian violence in Iraq? Breasts are beaten and fingers pointed as we try to somehow locate the root cause in America.
Our discourse on Iraq has followed the same pattern. Where did we go wrong? Too few troops? Too arrogant an occupation? Or too soft? Take your pick.
I have my own theories. In retrospect, I think we made several serious mistakes -- not shooting looters, not installing an Iraqi exile government right away, and not taking out Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army in its infancy in 2004 -- that greatly compromised the occupation. Nonetheless, the root problem lies with Iraqis and their political culture.
for full article:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/11/can_the_iraqis_keep_their_repu.html
