Good news, but still pessimistic on Iraq

I highly doubt the killing of Zarqawi will have much effect on the Iraqi insurgency. He was the al Qaida leader in Iraq, but al Qaida is only a small part of the insurgency. From what I know, it's mostly local factions.

 

More positive is the development that Iraq finally appointed defense and interior ministers. Let's hope the central government can create some law and order.

 

Andrew Sullivan seems a bit cheerful about these two developments, but his optimism has been shattered many a time.

 

I think an American pullout of Iraq would be a horrible and irresponsible thing. I also think it might be the least horrible and irresponsible option available to us. At the very least, there wouldn't be Americans killing people and getting killed. If the administration presented a strategy for pacifying Iraq that I really thought had a reasonable chance of succeeding, I might be persuaded to support it. But I cannot support what we're currently doing.

 

And if you asked me, "Would you go to Iraq yourself? Would you want someone you loved to go?" barring some huge change in the situation my answer would be "Hell, no!" So what moral right do I have to encourage my fellow Americans to stick it out? Of course, I don't think we should have gone there in the first place, but it's really too late for that.

 

For a pretty sick, cynical perspective, I recommend War Nerd's latest column on Iraq, Massacres, Babies, and Nukes. This guy tosses around terms like genocide almost gleefully and his lack of empathy for human death and suffering is pretty disgusting at times. But this self-proclaimed fat loser from Fresno seems more in touch with reality than a lot of people. Especially the people running this war.