It is what it is in Iraq. We can't go back and undo the mistake of failing to keep ground troops in Iraq after 2011. Those troops--in bases training Iraqis and not out patrolling--would have been an active reminder of our power that could have kept Iraqis moving toward a functioning democracy with rule of law rather than voting that puts your own people in charge.
Al Qaeda is surging in Iraq, back from the near-dead. Like I reminded people before, this is the price of almost defeating an enemy but not crushing them. We should know, because that's how we defeated the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies in Afghanistan in 2001--we lifted the Northern Alliance from near-death in their isolated corner of Afghanistan and enabled their march into Kabul.
So Kerry used a number of words that are technically correct. We will help Iraqis. But he spells out that we won't send troops:
“This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis,” Kerry said toward the end of a visit to Jerusalem. “We are not, obviously, contemplating returning. We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight, but we’re going to help them in their fight.”
But why even say we won't go back? Everyone knows it, already. Who could actually believe that the Obama administration would actually send troops to fight in Iraq?
It would have been far better to simply say what we would do to help Iraq win and say that we'd provide more help if necessary.
It would have been far better to tell Iraqis they aren't alone and that the fight against al Qaeda is our fight, too. Remind Iraqis--Sunni Arab, Shia, and Kurd--that our troops fought side-by-side with Iraqis against al Qaeda and other enemies of peace and democracy.
Seriously? What's with that, "this is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis" crud that Kerry spouted? So many people don't want us to unilaterally fight anybody, and yet when an Arab country is hip-deep in the battle against al Qaeda--the umbrella group that killed close to 3,000 of our people on September 11, 2001--we refuse to even say that this is a shared fight?
This isn't even close to "leading from behind."
Since the Iranians are running rings around us diplomatically, let's look at an actual statement of support that doesn't sound like a cringe in the face of danger:
Iran also offered assistance, with deputy chief of staff General Mohammad Hejazi saying that "if the Iraqis ask, we will supply them with equipment and advice, but they have no need of manpower".
Got it? Iran will help. But they have confidence that Iraq has the security forces to handle the job--not that Iran recoils from the danger or is incapable of facing the danger.
One can imagine a Kerry Doctrine on terrorism summarized by our foppish chief diplomat as he flops around the world stage, knocking over props, hoping to do something to earn a Nobel Peace Prize:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that this is your fight, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Yeah, Kerry is creating a desert in Iraq and calling it a Nobel Peace Prize. It's not too late to help Iraq, but this administration won't, because ... Bush.
We're so screwed. The Iraqis won't have a picnic, either.
