Pipes says there is no success in Iraq

Daniel Pipes writes today at the Corner:

Iraq’s Cosmetic Election [Daniel Pipes]

“It takes a cynical mind not to share in the achievement of Iraq’s national elections.” So writes the Wall Street Journal editorial board today. I’m no cynic, but my mood about Iraq could variously be described as depressed, despairing, despondent, dejected, pessimistic, melancholic, and gloomy.

That’s because the Iraqi regime (along with those of Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority) is a kept institution that cannot survive without constant American support. As long as Washington pumps money and sacrifices lives to maintain the Baghdad government, the latter can hobble along. Remove those props and Iranian-backed Islamists soon take over.

Tehran has aspired to seize effective control of Iraq since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. With many levers at hand, from mosques to schools to militias to politicians, the Iranian despots are well placed to inherit the country.

The end of U.S. backing looms. Indeed, Barack Obama responded to the well-run elections by declaring a hope that U.S. troops can leave Iraq months earlier than planned. As the American era closes, the Iranian one opens. In a year or two, the current elections will be looked back on as a cosmetic episode that somehow deceived otherwise savvy observers.

LA writes:

Pipes says:

… the Iraqi regime … is a kept institution that cannot survive without constant American support.

This of course is what I kept repeating like an automaton for years, that we had no strategy to win, and that we would have to stay Iraq forever to prevent the undesired consequences that were the reason for our staying there, whether a collapse of the government, or mass slaughters, or an Iranian takeover.

In U.S. in Mesopotamia—a collection, see my articles under the subheading, “Victory” a chimera in Iraq, particularly We have no strategy to win, and “Staying the course” means staying in Iraq—forever, and under the subheading The Surge, where I point out repeatedly that as welcome as the results of the surge were, the relative peace in Iraq would come to an end when the surge came to an end. Perhaps the relative peace has outlasted the surge proper, but (as Pipes puts it) it will not outlast a compete withdrawal of the U.S. from Iraq.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 09, 2010 03:11 PM | Send