An Interesting Article in Harper’s

Though I haven’t read it yet and Harper’s isn’t full text The Washington Post gives a decent overview

Too often Americans buy into really easy stereotypes of who we are fighting in various conflicts. Part of this is the lack of attention spans by individuals and part is by the press so a good take on who is actually fighting can do a lot to explain incredibly complex situations. Some people we fight are violent Islamicists. Some are opportunists and some are simply patriots who think American forces won’t be benevolent in the long run. Each of these three are different challenges. One you defeat, one you jail, and the other you demonstrate your values to.

The sad irony is contained at the end of the first page:

Last November, Mohammed was arrested by American troops and sent to the now-notorious Abu Ghraib prison. But Abu Ali has fared better: He was hired to do contracting work for the occupation government and used his profits to support the resistance. This means, Graham notes, that “the American taxpayer was funding both sides of the conflict.”

What strikes me most about this is that we went in unprepared to deal with this sort of situation. Idiots like Perle suggested the Iraqi people would celebrate and be ready for full sovereignty right way almost, while realists such as Dick Lugar suggested a broader coalition and preparing the population for a long war.

Instead of understanding how complex this situation was, the civilians in the Pentagon sold this war on the cheap and full of hubris. The uniformed leaders suggested more troops. The civilians balked and suggested a new way. And now we know they wanted a way around the international law–or to put more plainly, the law of the land given the United States is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and treaties approved by the Senate are just that.

Well that new way is failing. War is never simple and there was no chance this would be a World War II that was straightforward (though not easy). We face multiple problems in Iraq, but the Secretary of Defense would like to make you think the problems are simply evil incarnate in a few places. Some of our foes are evil–others need to be shown what being American means. Instead of trusting Americans to understand the need for a prolonged effort, Pentagon civilians sold a lie that the problems were isolated and not a big deal. They were wrong and now there must be accountability at the top. Fire Rumsfeld.