Who would think that a comedian, Gary Shandling, on Bill Maher's HBO show would be one of the few to understand the dynamics of what's going on here.Barack Obama is right that we're focusing on the wrong war in Iraq at the peril of losing the right war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders who attacked us. We must get Bin Laden. Barack is also right when he points out the economic toll that this misguided war in Iraq is exerting on us and its ramification as a national security issue. But he hasn't quite closed out the argument yet - and it may just be that he can't do it because of politics or the people's unwillingness to hear the truth.
But the truth is that the Iraq War is contributing to the decline of our great society and playing right into Al Qaeda's hand. In fact, the Iraq war is the embodiment of the proof that Mr. McCain (along with his neocon buddies) does not understand the difference between a tactic and strategy. He has allowed the tactical maneuvering and desire for military victory in Iraq divert his attention to the reality that we're losing our mission to get those who attacked us and playing to the strategy of Al Qaeda who realized they couldn't beat us militarily, so their only shot was to draw us in to protracted unpopular battles in the middle east that would bankrupt our economy, and polarize and thereby unite the people of that region against the United States as they watched unfolding atrocities of civilian murder and torture. In short, we have accomplished more to help Al Qaeda inflict pain on us, whether it be financial or through recruitment, than they could ever accomplish themselves.
The sad part is that the Russia/Afghanistan conflict in that very same region, involving the same players should have been the lesson to us. As Biden said, Past is Prologue. That 10 year protracted war was one of the major contributing forces to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and its ultimate undoing. How can we forget that and allow ourselves to do the same thing?
McCain and Palin keep saying Al Qaeda admits that Iraq is the central front of the war on terror. If that's not a clear explanation as to why we should not be in Iraq, I don't know what is. They want us there because it kills our economy, kills our standing in the world, polarizes the region and gets them recruits, keeps our attention diverted from killing them, and keeps us dependent on foreign oil. Most importantly, we forget the lessons of 9/11. Not only have we not gotten retribution vs those that attacked us, we have forgotten that they (yes, Al Qaeda) admitted that they could not beat us militarily and so their only hope was to draw us in to protracted and complicated conflicts, shake our confidence and cause our economy to crumble.
Don't you see - we're letting it happen. We're playing to their strategy. We're replaying the Soviet script. We're getting bogged down in endless and fruitless wars in the middle east at great peril to our safety. What do you think will happen if we go to Iran next? We seemed to understand this lesson when it was the Soviets (since we helped make sure to keep them bogged down there), but we're forgetting it now.
Next time McCain chides Barack about Iraq being the central front in the war on terror, it'd be good for him to respond as he typically does by mentioning that we should've and now need to focus on the narrow mission of killing those who attacked us on 9/11, but also reminding us what Al Qaeda's mission was, how it's playing out right now in the context of the economic crisis, and why we can't forget the lessons of the Soviet/Afghan war.