Still Studying For That Global Test

In two years of effing up our foreign policy with Iraq, Syria, and Iran, while futilely trying to get Palestinians to agree to peace with Israel, we have enabled al Qaeda in Iraq to regenerate to the point where they could seize two cities in Iraq's Anbar province. John Kerry wishes Iraqis the best, but he says "the world" believes Iraq is on its own.

Al Qaeda is not on the run, given that they just took two cities. God almighty, could John Kerry pretend like he gives a damn about Iraq?

"This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis. That is exactly what the president and the world decided some time ago when we left Iraq, so we are not obviously contemplating returning. We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight. ... We will help them in their fight, but this fight, in the end, they will have to win and I am confident they can."

Ah, Iraq still hasn't passed the "global test" to make the to-do list, it seems.

"The world" did not decide we should leave Iraq. President Obama did. And the spokesperson for the State Department should have the integrity to admit it.

But I suppose I should be friggin' grateful that Kerry took a moment from pursuing a Nobel Peace Prize peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis to say a word about Iraq.

Perhaps Vice President Biden could call Kerry and put in a good word about Iraq, when he gets a moment.

I have no doubt that Iraq can eject them from Ramadi and Fallujah, but this is our fight, too. And we have contributed to al Qaeda's rebuilding by failing to stay in Iraq to keep Iraqi politics on an even keel and to focus Iraqi efforts on eradicating the broken al Qaeda that we left there.

We contributed to al Qaeda's rebuilding in Iraq by failing to support non-jihadi rebels in Syria early, thus allowing jihadis to rush to the region and spill back into Iraq.

We contributed to al Qaeda's rebuilding in Iraq by lifting part of the sanctions on Iran, allowing Iran to continue to fund Assad's regime, keeping the jihad magnet in Syria going.

Yes, it was Counter-insurgency 101 to get Iraqi forces to the point where they could fight such a battle on their own, so Kerry has a point that we don't need to send troops into combat there. But when any of our European allies would need our help to fight anywhere, we need to act like we care about the outcome and not act like we're reluctant to help Iraq.

We fought to free Iraq from a thug dictator, and instead of being an enemy that supported terrorists, Iraq is now fighting al Qaeda. Pray tell, what is distracting us from this fight against al Qaeda?

We should help Iraq. And we should not be shy about having a stake in the outcome.