The Iraqi Miracle

I read through the executive summary and a good deal of the report of the Iraqi Survey Group. And I have read and heard a good deal of commentary and analysis. I am not usually a big fan of turning the name of something into an insult, but I like Rush Limbaugh's "Iraqi Surrender Group."

I was most struck by the group's conclusion that convincing Iran and Syria to become forces for stability in Iraq is one of the keys to success. Success being defined as the removal of US Troops from Iraq - victory in Iraq is apparently not a consideration.

Syria and Iran are currently the primary forces for instability in Iraq. They are supplying weapons, training and probably personnel to the terrorist forces in Iraq. They do not want Iraq to become a stable, secure and successful democracy, and they are working hard to prevent that. A stable, secure and successful democracy in Iraq would be a very bad influence on the citizens of Iran and Syria. They might decide they want that for themselves. Once they see freedom, oppressing them will be that much harder. And wasn't that one of the reasons for invading Iraq in the first place. Eliminate Saddam and his terror supporting oppressive regime, deal with the WMD issue once and for all, establish a democratic Iraq as an example to the rest of Middle East. That was the plan. Now we're supposed to convince the regimes that according to the plan would be taken out by their own people to help us?

While I was reading the report - and the buzz surrounding it, there was a thought in the back of my mind that I needed to try to answer the wishful thinking it was based upon, and then I remembered that the answer had already been given. It had been given before the ISG was even conceived.

Bill Whittle wrote in March 2004

We don’t need to look very far back to see the mechanism of why these things fail. Rather, all we need to spot is where the miracle needs to occur in order for it to succeed.

The phrase that I kept filling in between the line of the ISG report is "and then a miracle occurs."

Whittle's example

We will set up a society where all people work and share equally -- and then a miracle occurs. And all the laziness, deception, hoarding, cheating and stealing that marks human, primate, mammalian and lower animal behavior ceases to exist because the map says so.

We will create a system that takes from each according to his ability, and gives to each according to his needs -- and then a miracle occurs. And when the communal cow that nobody owns gets lost in the snow at 4:00 am, everybody will take their fair share to go look for it, even the liars, the cheats, the bullies and the goldbrickers.

We will devise an economic system where no matter how hard or little you work, no matter how talented or energetic you are or are not, all people will receive the same, fair, and equal reward -- and then a miracle occurs. And I will put in 40 hours of overtime a week, and deprive myself of time spent with friends and family while everyone else goes home to make sure that all 150 million of us live just a little bit better.

And our motto shall be all animals are created equal! -- and then a miracle occurs. And no longer will the ruthless, the brutal, and the savage intimidate the good, decent folk into thinking that some are more equal than others.

Today he could write, We'll set up a group of neighboring countries to support a free and stable democracy in Iraq -- and then a miracle occurs. The governments of Iran and Syria decide to act against their interests and help us along.

Since this is about the answer Whittle gave, I will give him the last word.

Miracles, are, by definition, freakish occurrences. No society can long survive if it is predicated on the routine and reliable apparition of the miraculous. And neither can any honest worldview, either -– not to a person with enough integrity to see the world around them as it is, and not as they wish it to be. Some people will never reach this point. To hell with them. They do not deserve to be correct. They are cowards, bound up in ego, boxed in narcissism and wrapped in bitterness and failure.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 03:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment