So back into Iraq we go. This time the enemy is ISIS. They are a blood thirsty bunch -evil to the core. Dangerous. The scenes of horror float across our television screens.
And everyone in Washington says what they always say: DO SOMETHING!
How many times have we been here before?
Well, from '54 to '79 we allied with the Shah and gave him a bunch of military weapons.
Then, after the Iranian Revolution, this alliance crumbled, and we made a relatively secret alliance with Saddam.
Then, after Saddam invaded Kuwait, we threw him out of Kuwait.
Then, after 9/11, we invaded Iraq.
After we invaded Iraq, a Civil War started.
The Civil War kind of settled, but then ISIS arose, and in part because of US weapons has grown strong.
You could almost do this by country in the Middle East. Egypt? We liked Sadat and his successor until we didn't. We liked the government after Mubarak ("Arab Spring"), and then there was a coup.
So now we are supposed to bomb ISIS?
Tell me, when you look at the history of the US in the Middle East, is there any reason to think we are capable of making things better there?
Show me the evidence! Support "moderates" in Syria? What are going to do, conduct a credit check to make sure they aren't part of some radical group.
Gee, sorry, but you were late on you CITI credit card payment - you must be a radical!!
So we destroy ISIS. Tell me, what arises in their place? More to the point, prove to me there is any evidence that we are smart enough to predict the consequences.
The smart people in Washington say "Do Something". But they don't know what the consequences are, and honestly they don't care. Bombing will make them feel morally superior - look, there is evil and we opposed it.
But to not care about the consequences is to be a child. It is an example of a terrible narcissism that grips the pundit class about the Middle East.
They don't know. And they don't care.
Because they are children.