Last week W. compared Iraq to the Korean War. The implication of which is that we have been there for 50 years and it still isn’t rosy, but it is stable. There are many flaws to this argument, and I don’t like hunting for fowl that are maimed and captive. There is an interesting point that Arianna Huffington planted in my mind, however. In Korea, we were viewed as a counter-balance to Soviet Communism that was wrecking the country. We were there to help the Koreans beat back the red scourge.
Arianna gave this as a reason that this conflict is so different. But I would take it a step further. We are the force that Iraqis feel needs to be counter-balanced. AQ is the counter-balancing force. Can they win, probably not, but they will ensure stalemate. They will keep the US from achieving their goals in the region. I like the Red Dawn analogy. I’m not sure that it is perfect, but it does capture the essence of the nationalism argument. Even if the US had a dictator (whoops) I would fight to the death any invading force that tried to determine my national destiny for me.