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Interesting result from the mid-term and Rumsfeld gone. As Winston Churchill said "It is not the beginning of the end but it is the end of the beginning." He was, of course, speaking of the first allied victories in the Second World War against the Germans and Italians in North Africa.
It is very difficult to imagine a way forward although I am sure the Democrats will be conscious that doing nothing is not an option. I suspect they will be looking for an exit strategy in Iraq that is well underway by 2008 since they will not want to inherit
this basket case. The U.K. will not be far behind because Blair's successor will have to go to the polls in the U.K. in 2008.
The larger question about what happens to America and the West in the war on terror is much more difficult. As long as we remain totally dependent on oil from unstable and hostile regions we cannot simply leave these people to rot in the obscurity they so richly
deserve. Fortunately more ruthless allies like China are going to increasingly take a hand as American hegemony is diluted and others come to be seen as "Imperialists" too. On the other hand America is going to have to nuance its stand on Israel if it wants to retain any support among the more moderate Islamists. ( Read more... )
It is very difficult to imagine a way forward although I am sure the Democrats will be conscious that doing nothing is not an option. I suspect they will be looking for an exit strategy in Iraq that is well underway by 2008 since they will not want to inherit
this basket case. The U.K. will not be far behind because Blair's successor will have to go to the polls in the U.K. in 2008.
The larger question about what happens to America and the West in the war on terror is much more difficult. As long as we remain totally dependent on oil from unstable and hostile regions we cannot simply leave these people to rot in the obscurity they so richly
deserve. Fortunately more ruthless allies like China are going to increasingly take a hand as American hegemony is diluted and others come to be seen as "Imperialists" too. On the other hand America is going to have to nuance its stand on Israel if it wants to retain any support among the more moderate Islamists. ( Read more... )
