Long ago I noted that when the enemies in the field are finally beaten, we'd need to shift to fighting corruption in the Iraqi government and society to help bolster the chance of democracy taking root. So I guess if the press is shifting gears from actual fighting, it is a sign that we are beating our enemies in the field.
But let's not get too worked up turning this problem into an unsolvable crisis. If you think that a large oil-exporting country in the Gulf with a fractured population that could break into civil war, rampant corruption, militias, kidnappings, and radical Islam potentially mucking up the whole place is a terrible crisis, why aren't you intensely worried about Nigeria?
Militants have kidnapped more than 150 foreigners this year to press their demands for local control of oil revenues. The attacks since late 2005 have cut Nigeria's regular output by about 20 percent, helping send crude prices toward all-time highs.
Locals for years have demanded a greater share of the wealth in Africa's largest crude producer, and the region remains desperately poor despite its great natural bounty.
Nigeria does rank a lowly 147 out of 179 in the corruption index (admittedly better than Iraq right now).
Come on, let's get with the program! Pull out our oil companies! Softly partition the country! End our aid and investment! Demand benchmarks!
We have problems in Iraq. Don't use these problems as an excuse to run away and let the killers win. We are making progress despite these problems.
Work the problems remaining. We're on the right path.
