国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Opinion / Op-Ed Contributors

Obama faces the great Iraq dilemma

By Tom Plate (China Daily) Updated: 2014-06-25 07:10

Iraq had essentially become a lost cause as early as August 2005, compelling me to write: "The US military is enmeshed in a vicious insurgency and there may be no way out - except, in fact, to get out, outright. What's more, the American public increasingly appears to agree. A consensus is developing that things have gone sour since the stunning US blitzkrieg of March 2003. In fact, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll found 54 percent do not think it was even worth going into Iraq; a separate Newsweek poll found 61 percent disapproving of President Bush's handling of Iraq. All the current opinion indicators are anything but gung-ho for continuing indefinitely."

In 2008, Obama campaigned against the Iraq war not only because it was unpopular, but also because it had been misconceived right from the beginning. Neither weapons of mass destruction nor a shared passion for democratic process and conflict resolution among Sunnis and Shiites was found in Iraq. Whether we "stayed the course" or not, many people would die. The only question was, if we stayed, how many more Iraqis (and, of course, Americans) would die.

From the start and throughout, Obama has rightly sought moral clarity and American relief in withdrawal. So any re-entry of American forces, beyond a token measure designed to protect US embassy personnel, will only deepen the tragedy.

To stay true to his vision, judgment and instinct, Obama must ride out his unpopularity for openly conceding that the war - of which he is now the prime custodian - never made sense. The reality is that, almost 5,000 US soldiers have given their lives in the occupation and at least 30,000 have retuned home with serious injuries.

Another different and better reality is that, thanks to Obama, there were no American casualties in Iraq in March, the first such month since February 2003. But it now appears that before too long Obama will become a political casualty of the war he neither started nor believed in. Such is history's ability to churn out paradox.

The author is Loyola Marymount University's Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies. His latest book, In the Middle of China's Future, is due to hit the stands in August.

Obama faces the great Iraq dilemma

(China Daily 06/25/2014 page9)

 

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

...
永登县| 金沙县| 高雄县| 元江| 乌什县| 横山县| 开阳县| 县级市| 会宁县| 雷山县| 莱阳市| 阿拉善盟| 邯郸市| 石阡县| 寻乌县| 新营市| 吉首市| 沽源县| 东兰县| 吴桥县| 岑溪市| 鹿泉市| 古丈县| SHOW| 凤冈县| 宜兴市| 八宿县| 吴江市| 旺苍县| 左权县| 胶州市| 白朗县| 新河县| 泰安市| 遵义市| 抚宁县| 宣城市| 电白县| 西乡县| 娱乐| 金湖县|