Bush’s handling of Iraq is open to legitimate criticism, but John Kerry appears to be living in la-la land. This is from the New York Times today: “He called the absence of Arab neighbors as part of the stabilization force ’staggering,’ saying, ‘All have a major stake in not having a failed Iraqi state, no matter how they feel about our getting there.’”
This is silly in a bunch of ways. First, the Iraqis have no interest in seeing troops from neighboring countries as part of the occupation, as was demonstrated with the rejection of Turkish troops several months ago. Second, it is very doubtful that Iraq’s neighbors, especially Syria and Iran, want to see us succeed in Iraq. Third, a patina of Arab troops would do nothing to keep former Baathists and people like Muqtada al-Sadr from wanting to kill Americans.