Hopefully everybody remembers that “80 percent solution” idea where America would step into Iraq’s civil war on the side of the Shiites. The brilliant, apparently non-Jewish mind behind the title deserves a Medal of Freedom for that alone. As for the idea itself, guess where it came from? No points if you peeked at the post title.
I had my say earlier. Josh Marshall has a different take that you should go read if you haven’t done so already.
This is a really good example of how you can’t underestimate the Bush White House’s ability to up the ante and embrace a new policy even more ridiculous than those they’ve tried before.
[…] So now we’ve got ourselves aligned on one side in an inter-communal bloodbath with most of our allies in the region on the other side. It’s us against everyone else, on the side of a regional sectarian minority with close ties to Iran. Sounds great. Plus, did I mention that al Qaida views the Shi’a as heretics? So this new policy should help cool those waters too.Point Three. Do Iraq’s Shi’a see themselves as closer to the United States or Shi’a Iran? Anyone want to take a stab at that one?
Among other points that he gets right, indeed the biggest danger in forcing the White House to change course is their unerring ability to form a new policy even worse than the last one. It’s too bad there is no ballot box penalty for schizophrenically managing a war with an obsessive focus on short-term domestic political gain rather than long-term success. Wait…