Posted by
mgraves on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:45:43 PM
Was listening to Col. David Hunt on a local radio show today (it's sports-talk, a bit of local sports and a bit of politics: Chad Hartman 1/10 interview found here) and he threw out the canard that there is no military solution to Iraq: there is only a political solution. Col. Hunt spoke of the need to build the economy, the infrastructure, and the political culture.
All well and good.
But, hate to be the one to break it to you Colonel, but those goals cannot be achieved in the present state of anarchy. One cannot build a civil society in the midst of civil war. Until the militias, Ba'athist holdouts, and terrorists are crushed, there is no political solution.
At the present time, the only solution is military.
Security is a prerequisite for rebuilding the annihilated infrastructure. So long as terrorists and others of their ilk run rampant, the infrastructure cannot be reliably rebuilt. Electricity and plumbing cannot be restored and expanded until substations are secure. Schools are not safe to attend, in many cases, so building new ones is only preparation--and only that if the schools are not blown up. Same goes for hospitals.
Security is required to establish a civil society and democratic institutions. Iraq has gone from a republic of fear to anarchy. Whether Iraq becomes a republic of laws remains to be seen, but the lack of security does not allow the freedom of association necessary to establish civic organizations and responsible political organizations. Militias are a constant rebuke to the alleged government. A government that permits nongovernmental organizations to operate as governments is no government at all. Until people are free to associate freely a sense of democracy cannot take root.
Security is necessary to allow a legal economy to be established and grow. When people are not able to walk down the street without the possibility of being blown up, then economic activity is severely limited. Granted, disorder and sectarian violence is restricted, and parts of Iraq have a blossoming economy, but unless the entire country shares in economic growth of some kind, the sectarian strife will spread to those areas where economic activity exists.
These problems cannot be voted away. These problems cannot be discussed away. These problems cannot be focus-grouped away. These problems cannot be regional conferenced away.
The remaining Ba'athists must be eliminated. The terrorists must be destroyed. The militias must be disbanded and Moqtada al-Sadr must be arrested and either imprisoned, or executed. Whichever way, he must be silenced.
To accomplish this, the borders must be sealed to confine the problem to a closed system. Continuing to permit destabilizing forces to enter the country--whether from Iran, Syria, or Saudi Arabia--only exacerbates existing problems.
The terrorists must be hunted down and killed. To do this, the Iraqi people must be convinced that the U.S. is committed to winning. If they are convinced that the U.S. is committed to winning, then they will be more willing to cooperate in intelligence gathering operations. The Ba'athists can be hunted down at the same time.
The militias must be starved out Iranian support and armament. Support for the militias will diminish when the Shi'a can depend on someone other than the militias to protect them from terrorist attack, and punish criminal acts. If the so-called Iraqi government were able to protect its citizens it could perform in this capacity. The only moderately competent part of the Iraqi government is the Iraqi military. They must be paid, supplied, and properly trained otherwise this useful arm of the Iraqi government will be lost.