Wanted: Enlightenment-era philosopher-statesman; must speak Arabic.

This is about as dispiriting an article on Iraq as I’ve read in a long, long time.

Regular readers know my feelings about that war have been mixed. I thought it was a mistake to start it in the first place, but once we were there, I thought we should make the full, national commitment to succeeding. After a few years, it became apparent to me that we simply didn’t have the political leadership to make that happen; that basically we had a choice between leaders who wanted to get out completely, and leaders who wanted to stay but without a full commitment or even much of a plan. That being the case, I concluded that the least bad thing to do was leave, and that’s pretty much where I’ve been, since.

Still, regardless of whether we stay or go, it’s disheartening to read these “return of the strongman” stories, even if they were expected.  To hear the chief of police in Fallujah say, in essence, “Saddam had it right, Saddam ruled this country the only way this country can be ruled, and once the Americans leave, we intend to go right back to it,” it really does leave one wondering what we’ve accomplished, or what we expect to accomplish going forward.  To hear the citizens of Fallujah say they can’t stand their chief of police, but he’s probably right, that doesn’t help.

If it leaves me feeling like the effort has been pointless, one wonders how it makes the troops on the ground feel, since they’re the ones doing the killing and dying — especially in a place like Fallujah, which seems to be sort of the Normandy of this war.

So while I don’t know of anything this blog can do that would make those soldiers feel any better about their mission, I am hoping someone here can at least make me feel better about it.  What’s the roadmap for success?  If Iraq is a place where “there are no Thomas Jeffersons,” how do we and they get it from where it is today, to where it is a self-sustaining nation-state that doesn’t look pretty much like it did before we went?

Those aren’t rhetorical questions.  I don’t see the way to get where we want to go, and I would like to.  So if someone sees the way, I’d very much appreciate being shown.