The Binary Solution: Does It Work?

Iraq. Why an either or decision?



Bush says stay the distance or now, something about going forward which sounds presidential but what does it mean? The Baker Commission talks about building up the Iraqi army as if that’s a new idea…But wait a minute, isn’t that what we’ve tried to do for nearly four years?



In the end, the gurus and prophets of this ‘no win’ game seem stuck in the either/or grove.



If we don’t do it Bush’s way or the Baker way, the sky will fall, Henney Penny. But hasn’t it already fallen metaphorically. I mean why have we so quickly reduced ourselves to the lesser of two unpopular choices? To me, the so-called bi-partisan commission of apologists for junior wanted to get this out of the way without exercising too much thought in order to get back to more important things…. Unless I’m mistaken, which I doubt, nobody on the commission is an expert on the history, culture and tradition of Iraq. So why are we treating them as if they were the Oracle of Delphi… Quite conversely, the solutions produced in book form seem to be the quick American fix from a family seeking a happy ending to the muck and mire that’s been the case there for longer than anyone would care to remember about this Middle Eastern trap..



Perhaps this is an assumption, perhaps not; but either way, it doesn’t look like there was a great deal of gray matter expended on this issue--although intellectual probity seems to be rather rare in this undestinguished White House. . In short, one suspects that the so-called bipartiasan membership was given more or less of a mandate: Help get my son out of this mess!...



Meanwhile, Junior has been running around with that mad look in his eye and a level of intransigence that we have not seen in the presence of new information.



Beyond that, la-la-land seems to prevail.



It occurs to me that the nation that could land a team on the Moon, should be able to do better. Hey there, Washington folks, we do have thinkers and many with specific expertise on Iraq even though they may not be of the Radical Right.. But in this case, the choice was expedient and political and, as such, the solutions offered seem wanting in seriousness and credibility.



In short order, we are likely to limit ourselves to the ideas of either one or the other; this is not to say that we have worked very hard and convincingly to countenance alternatives and submit them to the litmus test of discussion and analysis.



We’ll probably leave that for the succeeding administration.



In the meantime, someone like Henry Kissinger could see a connection with his heavy-handed exegis nearly thirty years ago and for the rest of us, it is Nam revisited.



Les Aaron

The Committee for Positive Change

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com