You're simply off base here. To believe that the situation in Iraq appears to be much worse than it actually is because of the efforts of the "media" to hype the failed Iraq meme, requires you to ignore hard, concrete evidence that the situation in Iraq is actually worsening. The media did not create the insurgency, or make up the fact that it has grown stronger with time. The media did not create the story of the bombing, nor did they create the fact that the Iraqi government believed the crisis to be so severe that they virtually locked down Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Your post leaves the reader with the impression that if in fact there comes a time when the last American helicopter is taking off from the Green Zone, you'll still be talking about how the media is over-playing the story.
Alexander Wolfe | Homepage | 02.26.06 - 2:06 pm | #

Alexander Wolfe,

And 20 years from now if Iraqis are still regularly voting for their leaders, you will still be asserting that "it is still too soon to tell" if a democratic Iraq will work.
-
CMAR II | Homepage | 02.26.06 - 6:55 pm | #

Man, it's way past the point where we can be even somewhat confident that there's going to be a good resolution to the Iraq situation. We know that if we leave now they'll disintegrate and fall to civil war. Then again, that's possible if we stay. So the question is whether we have the guts to stay for 20 years and make sure a democratic Iraq happens, if that's even possible. That brings it completely down to this: will American voters ok an occupation of Iraq for more than the next two years?

Try to avoid pithiness when arguing; it just makes you look like you can't argue based on reason.
Nathan | Homepage | 02.28.06 - 11:18 am | #

Nathan,

My point was that many saw a disaster in Iraq since the day Saddam fell. These same people have waved aside every success while squealing and flapping their hands at every setback and potential setback.

In the last year, there have been 3 free elections in Iraq with ever increasing participation. In a country that is surrounded by dysfunctional tyrannies and seething ignorance and bigotry, the three or four widely divergent parties are working out their differences peacefully while simultaneously fighting off an enemy determined to only tear down anything standing.

Pithy answers are certainly not your problem.
CMAR II | Homepage | 03.02.06 - 1:53 am | #