A Clarification for Mr. Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg writes an article on what he believes is the confusing policy of Senator John Kerry. So lets look at one of his examples.

"In his speech, Kerry said that he was worried Iraq would turn into some kind of long-running quagmire. "As we discovered in Vietnam, success on the battlefield, or even in a series of battles, can often be the beginning and not the end of a conflict."

OK, fair enough. But then he said, "I fear that in the run-up to the 2004 election, the administration is now considering what is tantamount to a cut-and-run strategy."

Um, which is it? Are we in for too long a haul, or are we cutting and running?"

Uh, Mr. Goldberg. Perhaps you ought to reread Mr. Kerry's work, because clearly you don't understand what he is saying. He is saying, as almost any rational observer would, that the Bush administration planned for an easy victory over Saddam, and failed to plan much for what happened afterwords (widespread looting, thousands of priceless historical artifacts destroyed or stolen).

He then, like any mature adult, admits that the United States has made a bit of a mess in Iraq and we need to stick it out and fix it up. Mr. Goldberg also apparently missed the very clear signals that the Bush Administration has sent out suggesting that they will be getting out sooner rather than later. Mr. Mark Matthews of the Baltimore Sun (reprinted in the Seattle Times) wrote recently, "In the euphoric days after the fall of Baghdad in April, the United States assumed near-total control over Iraq, confident that it knew best how to stabilize the country, win the hearts and minds of its people and steer it toward democracy.

Seven months later, unable to quell an increasingly effective insurgency, getting less cooperation from ordinary Iraqis and at odds with some of Washington's own Iraqi appointees, President Bush has made a major midcourse correction. His administration is hastily reworking its military tactics and political strategy, mounting aggressive airstrikes and artillery barrages to wipe out insurgents' hide-outs while trying to speed a transition from a U.S. occupation to Iraqi self-rule.

So it looks like Kerry's position isn't as crazy as you made it out to be.