Nice Response to the Hand-wringing over Iraq

Gerard Baker of the TimesOnline argues that the Iraq War does not portend the colossal failure that many Bush critics have prophesied.

I have thought all along that the Vietnam/Iraq comparison was a bit trite and largely unfounded. Perhaps most importantly, the number of casualties our troops are suffering in Iraq doesn't even compare to the lives lost during Vietnam. Sure, you hate to measure the success of a campaign by contrasting troop losses, especially when Americans are dying everyday. But it is undeniably an indicator, given that CNN is keeping a running tally, shown every night with much gravitas, in an attempt to wear down public resolve for this war. If you're going to try to prove something by comparison, at least make sure the comparisons are somewhat similar.

In a sense, the Iraq situation is more complex than Vietnam as well. There is no North Vietnam in this scenario: no government with a consistent ideology, no diplomats, no homogeneity. Our foes in Iraq are a diverse mix, including Sunnis, Shiah, Baath loyalists, Al-Qaeda, and death squads with no intent other than to kill, maim, and destroy. In short, it's a real mess. But not a quagmire.

A quagmire indicates a slow descent, and I don't feel Iraq is there yet because we're still there. It is a mess, a confusion, and very likely, a civil war. However, it can be remedied. Bush's policy of benchmarks is a way forward, but they will have to be strictly enforced. Donald Rumsfeld came out today and belligerently denied that there would be a timetable for the Iraqi government to meet these standards, which, sadly, sends the wrong message to the American people. Perhaps he means to be resolute, but what it says is that we talk loudly but don't really have the stick to back it up.

The onus for change does not rest on the US alone. If we lose in Iraq, it will be because Iraq loses first. If their democratically-elected leaders cannot protect their people because of ineptitude or sectarianism, if their citizens do not realize that the challenges before them require unity and not division, and if these splinter groups do not realize that warring among themselves spells long-term disaster, then no US effort, outside of occupation, will work there.

The President has long said that if we lose, the terrorists win. While this is black and white thinking, here it is sufficient. We can pull out of Iraq, but Iraqis can't.