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A thought experiment
posted Friday, 13 October 2006
I had this weird thought. I don't really believe it, but there was something vaguely interesting about it for me.
Imagine, for a moment, that the war in Iraq is a success. No--I don't mean what if the war in Iraq was a success, I mean what if it is, just not in the way that we would normally think of success. Consider: Bush has declared Iraq to be the essential front in the war on terror; al Qaeda has agreed and would claim for themselves a great victory if the insurgency successfully "drives out" the U.S.
What if the whole point of the war in Iraq from the U.S. perspective has been to create an actual military front in the "war on terrorism," which otherwise wouldn't have any such thing? The U.S. occupation of Iraq has brought radical Islamicists by droves into Iraq to fight the U.S. Now, some of these terrorists were probably created by the war, but what if some of those--what if a lot of them--would have been trying to travel to the West to commit terrorist acts? What if the point of the Iraq war was simply that, to act as a lightning rod for terrorism, keeping American civilians more or less out of the line of fire so that our military can bear the brunt of this "war"? Of course, even if was the real reason for going to Iraq, it still wouldn't justify the sacrifice of Iraqi civilians (except that, in the minds of our leaders, it might, because they know how little the American public cares for non-American casualties).
Again, even if I did believe this, it wouldn't justify the war, but it might explain why the Bush administration remains so adamant that the war in Iraq isn't the unmitigated failure that everyone else in the world thinks it is.
Imagine, for a moment, that the war in Iraq is a success. No--I don't mean what if the war in Iraq was a success, I mean what if it is, just not in the way that we would normally think of success. Consider: Bush has declared Iraq to be the essential front in the war on terror; al Qaeda has agreed and would claim for themselves a great victory if the insurgency successfully "drives out" the U.S.
What if the whole point of the war in Iraq from the U.S. perspective has been to create an actual military front in the "war on terrorism," which otherwise wouldn't have any such thing? The U.S. occupation of Iraq has brought radical Islamicists by droves into Iraq to fight the U.S. Now, some of these terrorists were probably created by the war, but what if some of those--what if a lot of them--would have been trying to travel to the West to commit terrorist acts? What if the point of the Iraq war was simply that, to act as a lightning rod for terrorism, keeping American civilians more or less out of the line of fire so that our military can bear the brunt of this "war"? Of course, even if was the real reason for going to Iraq, it still wouldn't justify the sacrifice of Iraqi civilians (except that, in the minds of our leaders, it might, because they know how little the American public cares for non-American casualties).
Again, even if I did believe this, it wouldn't justify the war, but it might explain why the Bush administration remains so adamant that the war in Iraq isn't the unmitigated failure that everyone else in the world thinks it is.
Your comments, as always, are most welcome. (4)