The Wolf’s Ears
Topic: Iraq War|
I like to compare the American involvement in Iraq to Thomas Jefferson’s take on slavery. The third president of the United States said of slavery:
“But as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. “
As I listen to General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker testify on the Hill these past two days I can’t help but shake my head at the complexity of the war. Beyond the presidential candidate’s questions that are posed to frame their stances in regard to the Iraq War there are the responses by the witnesses that reveal just how much the dynamics of the war can change. They change in ways that depict improvement in challenges that existed months prior (such as Al-Qaeda in Iraq) but new tentacles grow out of the beast that pose significant new dangers (i.e. Shia conflict in Baghdad and in the south) that result in the inability of our military to make significant draw downs. In many ways Iraq has become the money pit. You might recall that awful Tom Hanks movie. As the nation’s economy wades into recession we find ourselves with an albatross. If you listen to the testimony on Capital Hill you will get the feeling despite the surge, there really isn’t much changing in Iraq. The country is so dysfunctional that when one ill seems to be resolved, another ailment pops up. Perhaps unlike the outcome of letting go of Jefferson’s wolf, the Iraq wolf is more apt to bite itself than the American’s that are holding it. As Petraeus was grilled repeatedly on the question of when will US troops be able to leave, he really must answer when is the right time to let go of the wolf’s ears?
