Be Careful What You Wish For

My last post ended with a statement that we could not leave the field to Iran. One must look at the consequences of an American withdrawal from Iraq. This is why it is difficult for me to understand why the anti-war factions take the positions that they do.



An American retreat from Iraq would leave Iran as the only country in the Middle East strong enough to exert it's hegemony over the region, and they certainly have let it be known that is what they intend to do.



So, let's assume that the anti-war Left wins, and we withdraw from Iraq. The Gulf States are then under Iranian guns. Should we worry about that? Apparently not, if one listens to the Left. "What do we care about that region?", they seem to say. Or do they say they won't let that happen? We can negotiate our way out of the mess.



I can go on in that vein, but what is the use? The Left is anti-war, but often blindly so. They are against it, but have no real solutions to avoiding war except for platitudinous resort to negotiation with people who won't negotiate, or to getting help from countries that have no intention of helping. It all sounds good to the unthinking, but it just won't work.



In my reading today, I ran into a piece by one Juan Cole, the Middle Eastern guru favored by the Left. He makes some good points that perhaps the Left should pay attention to

"....But in all likelihood, when the Democratic president pulls US troops out in summer of 2009, all hell is going to break loose. The consequences may include even higher petroleum prices than we have seenrecently,which at some point could bring back stagflation or very high rates of inflation.

In other words, the Democratic president risks being Fordized when s/he withdraws from Iraq, by the aftermath. A one-term president associated with humiliation abroad and high inflation at home? Maybe I should say, Carterized. The Republican Party could come back strong in 2012 and then dominate politics for decades, if that happened....." (read the whole
thing)

Now wait a minute! Is he saying that they should know withdrawal will be a disaster? Of course they know. This is not about the national interest, this is about winning elections...at least to them.

Funny how he should mention Jimmy Carter, and him having been "Carterized." By this he means unjustly criticized and defeated for re-election. I am reminded that Jimmy Carter is the last leftist to be called upon to lead our country amid troubles with Iran. It should be noted that Mr. Carter abandoned the Shah, which led to the present bunch of crazies being in charge. They turned on him quickly, though, and took over our embassy, holding Americans hostage for months. Negotiate, sure, he negotiated. With himself. To no avail. Then he tried a pathetic rescue attempt by unprepared and poorly equipped troops, which was a total failure. At least he finally tried something.

We all need to remind ourselves that this is the type of individual that is seeking to benefit from our difficulties in Iraq. Mr. Carter was soundly defeated, but only after the damage was done. Will history repeat?

I will close with a warning to the Left: be careful what you wish for. It may come true, then what will you do?