A war cheerleader finally gets it

I am no fan of Fareed Zakaria. As editor of Newsweek International, Zakaria, perched high atop the Ivory Tower, was among the most vocal supporters of our misguided Iraqi adventure. As evidence of this, I offer you his piece from a few years ago titled “Bush’s Really Good Idea” from 2003. If you can stomach reading the whole thing three years hence, you are a stronger person than I.

In those three years, Zakaria and his ilk of pro-war types have mocked folks like me for thinking that Bush’s Really Good Idea was Really Bad. We were derided as wimps or demeaned as short-sighted or dismissed as being so blinded by our hatred for Bush that we could not see that the Really Good Idea was, in fact, Really Good.

As things in Iraq got worse, the pro-war voices got louder, declaring that cutting and running was not an option – the terrorists would win. So no matter what the consequences, we must stay the course. After all, the Really Good Idea was still Really Good.

Well, after three years of bloodshed and mayhem, it seems that the good Mr. Zakaria has had a come to Jesus moment on the war. Any objective assessment of Iraq demonstrably proves that the Really Good Idea was terribly, agonizingly Bad. In fact, the Really Good Idea, much like Iraq, has been blown to hell. As such, Zakaria seems to advocate a solution similar to Kissinger’s maneuvers that got us out of Vietnam - we declare victory and leave.

Dec. 4, 2006 issue - If you want to understand the futility of America's current situation in Iraq, last week provided a vivid microcosm. On Thursday, just hours before a series of car bombs killed more than 200 people in the Shia stronghold of Sadr City, Sunni militants attacked the Ministry of Health, which is run by one of Moqtada al-Sadr's followers. Within a couple of hours, American units arrived at the scene and chased off the attackers. The next day, Sadr's men began reprisals against Sunnis, firing RPGs at several mosques. When U.S. forces tried to stop the carnage and restore order, goons from Sadr's Mahdi Army began firing on American helicopters. In other words, one day the U.S. Army was defending Sadr's militia and, the next day, was attacked by it. We're in the middle of a civil war and are being shot at by both sides.

[Snip]

With a losing hand and deteriorating conditions on the ground, Kissinger maneuvered to extricate the United States from a situation in which it could not achieve its objectives, while at the same time limiting the damage, shoring up regional allies and maintaining some measure of American credibility. A version of such a strategy is the only one that has any chance of success in Iraq today.

Getting out, ladies and gentleman, is a Really Good Idea (even if Kissinger is involved) and I am glad that Zakaria is now on board. Not going at all, however, was an even better one.