Mark Steyn, in his on inimitable way, gives us the lowdown on brokering a Middle East peace.

The "Great Man of History" theory isn't one I suscribe to. Putting two (or more) "Great Men" in a room isn't enough to solve things unless those men happen to be in the mold of Stalin or Kim Jong-Il who are totalitarian dictators. Such men didn't get to be where they are by being compromising so negotiations between autocrats tend to go sideways very quickly.

Yesterday I was in negotiations with my 4 year old. He told me that if I didn't let him play on the computer then he wasn't going to play with any of his other toys. I said that was fine with me and he was genuinely puzzled. This is the same line of logic employed by Iran.


"Iran will resume uranium enrichment if the European Union does not recognize its right to do so, two Iranian nuclear negotiators said in an interview published Thursday."

If we don't let Iran go nuclear, they'll go nuclear. Negotiate that, Chuck Hagel.


Well, there it is then.

In short, only war will upend the chessboard in the Middle East and allow it to be rebuilt. That's what we're doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's difficult and costly work that has no certain outcome but the alternative is likely worse so we don't have a choice really.

The side that I don't think many (Iraq) war supporters think about is what comes after. That is; assuming we are able to create a stable democracy in Iraq what's to say they're not going to elect a bunch of lunatics? Nothing. Palestine elected a bunch of Jew-hating nutball murderers because those were the only choices. Anyone else running tends to get murdered or wises up and starts calling for the destruction of Israel.

I'm of the opinion that while the nascent Iraqi democracy may not be US friendly as a whole, there will be significant numbers in the minority that will remember what we did (or tried to do) for them and how we bled and died doing so. In the long run, we could see an Iraq that looks like Turkey. Not our best friends but not an enemy either. I'd count that as an unqualfied success.

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