The invasion of Iraq is supposedly about terrorism. But how about these numbers?
Total Iraqi dead: 100,000-600,000
Total American injured: 20,000
Total American dead: 2,800
Total foreign fighter dead: 799
NPR reported that number again this morning. 799 foreign fighters killed in Iraq. 23,000 American casualties to kill 800 foreign fighters?
The only rational conclusion is that the war never had anything to do with terrorists, or it is so incompetently executed as to have been completely ineffective in meeting its goals. Each of us has to make our own decision on that one.
Beyond the 15 year old neoconservative dream of conquering the middle east, the only real American interest in Iraq is the defeat of whatever terrorists we attracted there through the invasion. At that, we are failing. Policies of internationalizing the problem, drawing down, or building up troops are all going nowhere if we cannot change the strategic objective. If the neoconservative dream of Iraq as a beachhead in the region persists, none of these changes in direction will work well. Perhaps a narrower focus on the terrorists only will redirect our country in Iraq.
Check out my forthcoming book Call to Liberty: Bridging the Divide Between Liberals and Conservatives. I regularly blog at http://www.calltoliberty.net. This post was cross-posted there.