[lit-ideas] Re: The Strident Voice of Defeat ['a militarysolution']
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:52:13 -0800
Robert:
If this is addressed at me, I agree with what Gates says (depending upon
what he means by "other departments of the U.S. government), but I don't
think the question is clear. The purely military portion of the effort in
Iraq is over. We are now in the Nation Building phase and we can't build a
nation with the just the military. We need the military to provide security
while the nation is being built. The security can be handled by either
military, national guard (which in Iraq's case is the military) or the
police depending upon the size of the problem. The influx of foreigners
bent upon preventing the Iraqi government from achieving viability as well
as Sunnis who have changed their mind about becoming part of the new
government (assuming their minds were ever inclined in that direction)
presents a problem that many say the Bush administration should have
foreseen and forestalled by more troops.
Once security has been established then economic progress should be pursued.
If Iraq is to enter what Barnett terms the "Integrated Core"; then it must
be secure and willing enough to invite investment. They have made gestures
that indicate they wish to comply with the Sharia but as Omar and others
have said, almost every Muslim nation claims to comply with the Sharia but
only the Fundamentalists claim to do that in such a way that they are
prohibited from becoming a modern nation economically -- and even Saudi
Arabia has ways around the Sharia economic restrictions.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Robert Paul
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 3:22 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Strident Voice of Defeat ['a militarysolution']
Questions posed to Robert M. Gates, before his confirmation as
Secretary of Defense:
17. Strategy in Iraq
Question: Do you agree that there is no purely military solution to the Iraq
situation?
Yes, there is no purely military solution in Iraq. The U.S. strategy
in Iraq depends on political and economic efforts, as much as
military, though the military component remains critical to success
there.
According to the President, the military aspect of the U.S. strategy
continues to be to help develop self-reliance among Iraqi security
forces, neutralizing the insurgency, and defeating the terrorists.
While significant work remains to be done in a difficult environment,
the Iraqi security forces have made great strides.
Security progress in many ways is contingent on political and economic
progress, which will continue to require the full commitment of the
other departments of the U.S. government, Iraq's regional neighbors,
and the international community.
[end of quoted material]
Robert Paul
Reed College
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
