Gary Hart is absolutely right. The Bush-McCain policy of squatting in Iraq with permanent military bases has the look and effect of maintaining an American empire in a part of the world that has resented our presence since the moment Iraq was invaded and began to disintegrate. What he doesn't mention is that Bush and McCain justify this policy by claiming that the threat and occasional use of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in that region is necessary to quell Islamist terrorism, which would otherwise kill Americans in their beds. But if military garrisons and attacks are the only or most visible means of curbing terrorism, they will -- as they did in Iraq -- inflame the very danger they are supposed to douse. An entirely new strategy -- to pull out the political and social roots of terrorism, and not merely whack the weeds of radical fighters who spring up in opposition to U.S. forces -- is desperately needed. Which is why a totally fresh perspective is desperately needed in the White House.
posted 01/29/2008 at 23:04:37
posted 01/29/2008 at 23:04:37
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