If only Canadian opposition parties thought like Democrats

On the other hand, Charles Krauthammer's Martian is right in terms of argument, but can his conclusion be successfully implemented--politically or militarily?

...Bring in a completely neutral observer -- a Martian -- and point out to him that the United States is involved in two hot wars against radical Islamic insurgents. One is in Afghanistan, a geographically marginal backwater with no resources and no industrial or technological infrastructure. The other is in Iraq, one of the three principal Arab states, with untold oil wealth, an educated population, an advanced military and technological infrastructure that, though suffering decay in the later years of Saddam Hussein's rule, could easily be revived if it falls into the right (i.e., wrong) hands. Add to that the fact that its strategic location would give its rulers inordinate influence over the entire Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states. Then ask your Martian: Which is the more important battle? He would not even understand why you are asking the question...

[...]

The Democratic insistence on the primacy of Afghanistan makes no strategic sense. Instead, it reflects a sensibility. They would rather support the Afghan war because its origins are cleaner, the casus belli clearer, the moral texture of the enterprise more comfortable. Afghanistan is a war of righteous revenge and restitution, law enforcement on the grandest of scales. As senator and presidential candidate Joe Biden put it, "If there was a totally just war since World War II, it is the war in Afghanistan."..

As to implementation, several commenters on an earlier post, "US ground forces tapped out", objected that it was based on a news story in the Washington Post and hence was basically liberal pap. This article appears in the Post's evil conservative twin, the Washington Times: "Is the Army headed for collapse?". It is written by a retired major general, a former commander of the Army War College.

Mark C.

Posted by markc at March 31, 2007 10:52 AM