War Ain't Picnic

Our co-blogger Pragmatic asks if America's recent troubles in Iraq are really not a case of Neocons being mugged by reality?

He points to many mistakes in how the war has been run. We concede some -- indeed, have ourselves called this a "good war botched" -- object to a few, but that is neither here nor there.

Lets focus on the big picture. When nations are born, it hurts. There are no epidurals for such geopolitical labor.

Consider India. Our nationalism was over a hundred years in the making, and when freedom came -- a million died and over ten times as many were made homeless in their own motherland. Does this latter misery negate the magic of our freedom? Surely not.

Consider America. Its taken a revolutionary war, a vicious civil war, and a civil ferment spanning multiple centuries to -- still not fully -- realize the magical promise of its founding.

We've asked Iraq to do a great deal in a short time. A lot of politics and much vengeance is yet to be worked out there -- and, speaking of reality, much of it will involve bloodshed, it always does. This is not avoidable -- but, once exhausted, these very passions -- then mellowed -- will infuse a robust democracy in the heart of Arabia.

America could have fallen back into the desert and let the civil war play out in Iraqi cities. Instead, it chose to risk its own blood to keep a lid on the violence -- to keep it on a slow burn. The latter process is messy -- from the American perspective anyway -- but more humane. Credit should be given where credit is due.

When history books are written, this era will be called the great democratization of Arabia. The bloodshed will be a footnote -- or gist for literature. When one thinks of 1947, one first thinks of Indian independence -- only then the losses we also took. When one thinks of 1776, one first thinks of American liberation -- only then the losses the revolution took.

That's the bottom line. This is why the neoconservatives fight. Our goals are noble and our victory never in doubt.