New Blogger on SAM

SAM is pleased to have a new team member, Charles P. Coleta. Charles graduated Boston College in 2005* with a degree in political science, and now works in the financial industry at the firm State Street in Boston. He is blogging under the name CPC_65.

Here is his first post:

* Editor's note: Charles actually graduated BC in '06, I apologize for any confusion that may have caused.

BOUNCING FROM IRAQ
by Charles Coleta

First blog, very excited. Here we go.

Many opinions about the current war in Iraq. We should pull out altogether. We should do so gradually, with an end date set. We should stay until the fight is over! Not to suggest that any of these, among others, are wrong, but rarely do I hear intelligent conversations about what Americans hope to see Iraq become, and the necessary steps needed to get there.

I'm a Democrat, and have been one for a long time. I can't stand Republicans for reasons articulated quite eloquently by Paul Begala and James Carville in their last political treatise, Take It Back. However, there's something quite unnerving in the standard liberal view of foreign policy that seems to be schizophrenic and leaves America in a worst state. And the troubling aspect is that liberals generally accept this notion, and would like to move forward from this position.

Liberals would want the U.S. to pull out altogether and deal with Afganistan, Sudan, and, for all I know, Cape Verde. Redeployment is the name for such a strategy. Loss of credibily would fit better. For what kind of legitimacy would the U.S. bring to those nations, among other, were it to leave Iraq in the wreck it's in now, only to go deal with what's arguably worse? Consider Somalia today. It's essentially a civilization lost. Guns are more rampant that food and drinking water. U.S. troops were once stationed there for purely humanitarian reasons, reasons that live up to American ideals and everything we've all been taught America was all about. No oil. No platinum. Nothing real to gain other than a country getting back on it's feet. We lose 16 soldiers on a horrendous day of fighting, and it's pack-it-up and pull-out. What followed was Rwanda and Somalia gone awry...awry with Jihadists and Islamists, that is. With that in mind, and considering we have real interests in Iraq (i.e. oil), why would we condemn ourselves to that same history. History that goes beyond the example just provided.

The problem with the administration is their inability to internationalize the problem, as Kissinger explained last month on the Charlie Rose program. This is more than just Iraq. How safe should all those little monarchies feel with a collapsed Iraq? Iran may be empowered, but it would have to feel more threatened due to the religious fighting between the Sunnis and Shias that it instigates and is known for instigating. Saudi Arabia would have to re-evaluate the presence of American troops, and see that it would be in a catch-22: Keep the troops, and be condemned for it; kick the troops out, and face a major security problem. Among others, these vital issues ought to be expressed to these countries by their American interlocutors, yet there is this feeling that thia has never happened, and is currently not happening at a pace that would bring about progress.

We need more troops to handle the security problems of Iraq. We need more diplomatic progress (even if it's secretive) to get the regional actors involved. But most importantly, we need to realize what kind of Iraq we want to see and work towards that goal. Otherwise, cut the funding entirely and call it a day.