Frank Rich: The Tragedy of our Age

I think America and the Free World would be better served if Frank Rich remained in the realm of criticizing movies rather than judging U.S. foreign policy.

He has declared the winner in Iraq.

The winner is chaos and death.

In other words, Rich decided that the fat lady sang. The U.S. lost the war.

He writes:

Since [Bush is] also dead set against a prompt withdrawal, we already know what his policy will be, no matter how many “reviews” he conducts. He will stay the course, with various fake-outs along the way to keep us from thinking we’ve “lost,” until the whole mess is deposited in the lap of the next president.

...As bad as things may seem now, they can yet become worse, and not just in Iraq. The longer we pretend that we have not lost there, the more we risk losing other wars we still may salvage, starting with Afghanistan.
The members of the Iraq Study Group are all good Americans of proven service to their country. But to the extent that their report forestalls reality and promotes pipe dreams of one last chance for success in this fiasco, it will be remembered as just one more delusional milestone in the tragedy of our age.

THE LIBS DON'T GET IT!

The "delusional milestone" and the "tragedy of our age" is the refusal by many to acknowledge the threat that the Islamic extremists pose to us.

This is not about Bush trying to save face.

It's about fighting a ruthless enemy.

We don't have the option of ignoring the enemy.

Why?

The enemy comes to our shores and kills us.

We can't enact a cut and run policy because there is nowhere to go. The enemy will follow us.

Iraq isn't Vietnam, and it shouldn't be judged as if it is.

America's retreat from Vietnam didn't signal that communism would be victorious over democracy. However, the retreat did allow millions to be slaughtered in the region.

As in Vietnam, an American retreat from Iraq would also guarantee a humanitarian crisis. Iraqi civilians are dying now. Our retreat would NOT mean less death and misery for the Iraqis. Is that irrelevant?

The consequences of withdrawing from Iraq would be far worse than the U.S. surrender in Vietnam.

We can't give Islamic extremists a victory. The violence in Iraq is not just about warring sectarian factions within that country. That's far too simplistic.

Islamic terrorists around the world aren't framing the war in Iraq as just an Iraq thing, so why are many people in this country?

The fighting in Iraq is a battle against the U.S. in a borderless war.

Leaving Iraq will encourage terrorists to employ their tactics. It won't appease them. In the long term, dealing with them will mean greater sacrifice later than dealing with them now.

Rather than looking at Iraq as if it were Vietnam, it should be viewed as Europe in 1939.

Rich can be content with losing. He's insignificant.

The United States can't accept defeat. That would be the tragedy of our age.