Out Damned Spot

I was listening to the radio yesterday and heard a pundit talk about Bush Administration efforts to open back channels to Iran and Syria, in an effort to get a handle on Iraq. Of course, talking to the neighbors is a good thing. There are certain regional issues that the Administration should have been aware of and sensitive to all along. So, by all means, we should be talking to Iran and Syria about Iraq.

The problem I'm having, though, with the diplomacy discussion is that it tends to reinforce one of the biggest misperceptions about the nature of this conflict. Many of the Bush supporters have blamed a whole variety of outside pressures as the reason the policy is failing. They say Al Qaeda is out there fomenting dissent. They say Iran is funding and training Shiite militias. They say the border with Syria is uncontrolled and the enemy is smuggling in supplies and reinforcements. They even blame the outside media, saying the media message has given "comfort" to the enemy.

Meanwhile, descriptions of Iraqis have been at best paternalistic and condascending and at worst racist and offensive. And it's only getting worse. Now it is not uncommon to hear conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh advocate gratuitous bombing campaigns to teach Iraqis a lesson. Just the other day, Bill O'Reilly said he had no respect for Iraqis and called them a "stone age people."

The truth is we're losing this war partly because we still haven't acknowledged our enemy. It's not Al Qaeda. It's not Iran or Syria. We're fighting Iraqis and we've always been fighting Iraqis. At first, after the Mission Accomplished speech, we couldn't admit we were fighting Iraqis because they welcomed us, right? So we made Zarqawi into a bogeyman and described his connections to Al Qaeda as stronger than they actually were (which, ironically enough, only grew stronger the more we puffed him up).

Then the Administration kept exaggerating and advertising the presence of foreign fighters, when they knew full well their numbers weren't as strong or influential as they made them out to be (though ironically by promoting the accomplishments of that foreign force they in fact bolstered its credibility which in turn attracted more foreigners to come join in the fun).

Then the Administration started complaining about the Iranian presence in Iraq and about the comfort the porous Syrian borders were giving the enemy. I'm not sure why, while we're having so many problems dealing with one country, you'd want to pick a fight with two other countries (and then of course we're still in Afghanistan). Not only did this close the door to cooperation with two influential regional powers, it actually encouraged Syria and Iran to intervene against us.

Over time, the reality on the ground has forced us to recognize the true nature of this war. It's an Iraqi war, fought by Iraqis, against Iraqis, and largely right in front of us. To the extent that we've joined the fight, we've lacked clear objectives and we don't seem to know how any particular battle gets us closer to our goals. Which at this point simply seems to be peace and order.

So what will negotiating with Syria and Iran accomplish? Very little. It needs to happen but it isn't a sign of progress. It's too late, actually. After the past three years, the only issues left to settle has to be settled with the Iraqis. We've inserted ourselves into an ethnic conflict. And we made it worse by our disingenuous doublespeak. Does anyone believe that the words "Democracy" and "Freedom" mean anything to the Iraqis at this point when it comes from the mouth of our president?

It may still be possible for Iraq. Democracy is still possible. I say that because I believe that in the marketplace of ideas, it's still a formidable force. But if Iraq achieves democracy, it will be in spite of our bungling and not because of it. And at the end of the day, when you consider all the lives lost on every side and all the suffering, the price paid will hardly have been worth it. And that, my friends, is a stain on the hands of our president that will never come clean.