Ranting and Raving

I'm happy about this, I really am. The Iraqi people deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing he's not going to return to trouble them. It's a happy day indeed. But it isn't the mission.

I worry now that with the capture of Saddam and the relief it spells for the Iraqi people, that the administration will lose its focus. There are problems with what we're doing in Iraq, although what we're doing in Iraq is a good deal better than what we wanted to do in Iraq.

What we wanted to do was to replace a puppet that went haywire (Hussein) with a puppet we hoped wouldn't go haywire (Chalabi). The Iraqi people rejected that option out of hand, and bravo to them for it. So now we're on to plan B, in which we ram a model of democracy that will not work for Iraq down its throat. The governing council is a fine bunch of people, heroes every one. But they cannot hope to unite Iraq. Hussein was only able to unite Iraq with a culture of fear and an Iron fist. We need to accept the fact that Iraq is three separate countries, one for Kurds (to Turkey's chagrin) one for Sunis and one for Shiites. The model we should be looking for is either that of three separate states, or else a federation. Iraq is not intrinsically monolithic and the means by which monolithic structured was imposed and maintained is being revealed in the mass graves. If we try to leave it as one monolithic structure, civil war is inevitable. If we can help them build a federation and internalize e pluribus unum as an ideal, we have a shot at building a stable entity.

But even that is far away. In the unlikely event that the Baathists all say "Well, they got Saddam, guess we might as well give up the fight," we still have to face the fact that Iraq has become a magnet for every radical wingnut in the Islamic world. And while Rumsfeld has argued that it is better to fight them in Iraq than on US shores, their continued presence does little to advance the cause of safety and stability.

So while we celebrate the trophy buck now hanging on the wall, let's remember that it's the meat, not the rack that feeds the kids. Here's hoping we get it dressed and processed before it spoils; it's a little far along already.