WASHINGTON POST COLUMN: …Critics of Obama’s policies propose relatively modest steps that sound reasonable: Speed up the training. Intensify the bombing, using American spotters. Provide more arms. Let U.S. advisers stand shoulder to shoulder with Iraqi officers on the front lines.
But none of this deals with the central problem, which is that too many Iraqis place sectarian, ethnic and regional loyalties ahead of their allegiance to the nation. If the ideal of a unified, pacified, pluralistic Iraq is more important to us than it is to the Iraqis, even the 10,000 additional U.S. troops proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) cannot possibly make a difference.
Yes, the United States could easily marshal the necessary forces and recapture Ramadi. But what would we do with it? Give it back to a government that the city’s residents don’t trust? Keep it under martial law until we could make it safe for McDonald’s?… (more)
