Winds of Change

Steven has a lengthy analysis of what we have to achieve in Iraq. For the record, I switched from against war, to pro war, and finally back to against war. I'm not even going to bother linking to my own posts that follow this train of thought, because the issue is not whether there should have been a war, it's now how do we win the peace. I plan on continuing to be critical of this Administration because unlike Steven, I disagree that Bush has the commitment to the long term to pull this off (or, to be more charitable, that there are elements within the Bush Administration that will threaten the needed commitment).

There are indeed positive winds of change. I exulted in the fall of Saddam's statue - how could I not? But achieving liberation is very different from achieving democracy. And a post on Shi'a Pundit notes that the first time "will of the people of Iraq" happens to conflict with "will of the Pentagon" , there will indeed be a litmus test. This is the essential reason why a Neo-Wilsonian like myself could disagree with a policy towards Iraq run by Neo-Conservatives - because though our end goals are similar, there is a crucial difference.

I'll continue to fault the administration where I think they fail - and there is NOT much room for error. But I will also be pleased at the positive outcomes, such as these articles in Arab News that Glenn Reynolds has been finding:

To a large extent, the Arab media was characterized by selectivity...

with the fall of a tyrant, a fresh breeze is also blowing in the Arab world...

I have often found many similarities between Marines and Arabs...

These are the desired effects that Steven writes about today. There will always be positive and negative effects of any action. Whther this Iraq war was ultimately net positive or negative will depend critically on how the Administration handles it. And I will be watching.