Joe Lieberman Makes the Case for War
In the Washington Post, Joe Lieberman argues against withdrawal from Iraq:
The suicide bombings we see now in Iraq are an attempt to reverse these [American] gains: a deliberate, calculated counteroffensive led foremost by al-Qaeda, the same network of Islamist extremists that perpetrated catastrophic attacks in Kenya, Indonesia, Turkey and, yes, New York and Washington.Indeed, to the extent that last week's bloodshed clarified anything, it is that the battle of Baghdad is increasingly a battle against al-Qaeda. Whether we like it or not, al-Qaeda views the Iraqi capital as a central front of its war against us.
Does Lieberman, who has been for the war since before it started, remember that Al Qaeda wasn't actually in Iraq until after we invaded that nation?
The current wave of suicide bombings in Iraq is also aimed at us here in the United States -- to obscure the recent gains we have made and to convince the American public that our efforts in Iraq are futile and that we should retreat.
This logic leads one to a terrifying conclusion: The more "gains" we make in Iraq, the more bombings result. Therefore, every bombing is actually a sign of progress.
In other words, if there are no bombings, we're winning. And if there are lots of bombings, we're also winning.
Where is Joseph Heller when you need him?
And here's another dangerous piece of rhetoric:
Al-Qaeda, after all, isn't carrying out mass murder against civilians in the streets of Baghdad because it wants a more equitable distribution of oil revenue. Its aim in Iraq isn't to get a seat at the political table; it wants to blow up the table -- along with everyone seated at it.
So Al Qaeda is a nihilist organization that simply wants to blow up everything and everyone?
I'm no Al Qaeda expert, but this is not a serious argument. What would Al Qaeda do if the U.S. pulled out of the country? Lieberman would have us believe that the answer is bombing until Iraq is just one big pile of carnage. But even from my layman's perspective, Al Qaeda seems a terrorist organization with distinct political goals—getting the US out of lands it considers Muslim and holy.
I have no idea what Al Qaeda would do in Iraq if we pulled out. But it doesn't sound like Lieberman does either. And his construction—Al Qaeda wants "to blow up the table—along with everyone seated at it" is nothing but fear-mongering. If we're really going to fight Al Qaeda, we need a more sophisticated understanding of the organization than that.
But then, that's Joe Lieberman for you....
