How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless… ally.
No one questions that today Iraq owes their very existence to a U.S. led war in which 4,493 Americans died. In fact, American taxpayers are still paying the nearly 817 billion dollar bill.
Now the conglomeration of tribes we refer to as Iraq shows its gratitude by inviting Russia into the mix.
How fitting to heap insult upon tragedy.
We now read in the daily papers that Iraq’s leaders are welcoming Russia.
First, Iraq granted Russia fly over privileges to bring Russian troops and military equipment into Syria. Next Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi chimed in that he will “consider” and “welcome” Russian airstrikes. An Iraqi defense official went further, saying Russia should have a “bigger role” than the United States in fighting ISIS.
And how do most presidential aspirants, Republican and Democrat, respond? America, they say, must confront the Russian bear.
But America should remember that these were the same people who were wrong about invading Iraq in 2003.
Everything we’ve been told by the proponents of the Iraq war has been wrong. We were not greeted as liberators, the war was not over quickly, the region did not become more stable, there were no weapons of mass destruction.
By every objective measure Iraq is less stable. Iran is emboldened. Russia is emboldened. Only a purposefully blind review of the situation could assert any degree of success.
And now to add insult to injury, Iraq chooses Russia, Iran, and Syria to be their closest allies.
Should we be surprised?
Amazingly, many of our leaders ignore the disaster of the original Iraqi intervention and now send forth harried calls for more intervention. From Hillary Clinton to Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio to Carly Fiorina, they all now call for more intervention.
Fiorina says she wont have dialogue with Putin and that we must be prepared to use force against Russia. From Clinton to Bush, they all seem to agree that we should draw a red line in the sky and enforce a no-fly zone.
We are so lucky none of these aspirants were president during the Cold War or we might not have been able to avoid nuclear war.
No one seems ready to explain how and why we would enforce a no fly zone over two countries who welcome Russia’s presence.
Reagan, who most Republicans revere, was not so bellicose or naive as these latter day want-to-bes. Reagan built up our defenses but he also kept the lines of communication open with Russia and ultimately he negotiated from a position of strength with Gorbachev.
Americans need to pay close attention to this presidential race. On both sides there are reckless voices who want to trumpet that they are more likely to send our sons and daughters back into Iraq.
I, for one, will continue to provide a voice for Americans weary of war and cognizant of the unintended consequences of intervention.
There will always be a Bush or a Clinton that will take us back into Iraq. I will not.
Sen. Rand Paul is the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky.
Gage Skidmore
