Gary Brecher at War Nerd has a post that’s lengthy but well worth reading in full (hat tip to Jason Sigger at Armchair Generalist):
A funny thing happened on the floor of the Senate last week. Somebody asked a serious question: “If the war in Iraq is lost, then who won?”
Of course Sen. Lindsay Graham, the guy who asked the question, didn’t mean it to be serious. He was just scoring points off Harry Reid, the world’s only Democratic Mormon. Reid had made a “gaffe” by saying in public what everybody already knows: “The war in Iraq is lost.” When you say something obviously true in politics, it’s called a “gaffe.”
So Graham, McCain’s bitch, jumps in to embarrass Reid with his question.
But let’s take the question seriously for a second here: who won in Iraq? To answer it, you have to start with a close-up of the region, then change magnification to look at the world picture.
[In brief, the answer is: "Iran in the short run, China and India in the long run." But you'll want to read the full post to savor Brecher's observations and reasoning.]
2 Comments
Since the “if” is a false premise, Brecher’s perorations are irrelevant. Built on sand, as it were.
Whether you think the war is won, lost, or neither, the political relations at play in Iraq involving Iran, China, and India are relevant.