October 3, 2008

Surge, Splurge, Gurge

By this time, only someone of extreme naïveté and inexperience could believe that the U.S., through force of arms, might bring democracy and stability to Afghanistan and Iraq. The reality is that ultimately the U.S. military will be — must be — utterly swallowed up. I have long maintained that our "leaders" who put us in those places surely understood that. Why exactly we are there, then, I don't know. History will judge. Specifically regarding Iraq, despite John McCain's dishonest touting of the surge, victory is nowhere in sight; indeed, there's a heap of trouble coming down the road. To get a well-informed and balanced sense of what's happening I turned again to Wayne White, one of the top U.S. intelligence analysts specialized in Iraq, recently retired. It's always a privilege to talk with Wayne, who exercises a refined discretion in his judgment, which I reckon to be far more accurate than the conventional wisdom. Total runtime an hour and sixteen minutes. Think smart.