6 years on from Shock and Awe, the NY Times has a piece "America's Scorecard in Iraq" reporting on an evaluation and assessment of what was accomplished, if anything, from the war on Iraq:
"Has the war enhanced American strategic interests in the troubled Middle East, as President Bush and the other champions of the war long argued would happen?
The answer really is no, or at least not yet.
The overthrow of Saddam Hussein, whatever the underlying motivation, certainly removed a potential threat to American interests, but a bird’s-eye view as the sixth anniversary of the war approaches shows that the Middle East remains as troubling and turbulent as ever. Whatever gains Iraq has brought have to be measured alongside the costs, the casualties and the consequences to America’s standing in the region.
“We are not necessarily weaker,” said Marina Ottaway, director of Middle Eastern affairs for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an author of “Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World.” “But,” she added, “after all these years and the money that we’ve spent, I’m not sure we’re coming out in a stronger strategic position.”
Indeed, Afghanistan has spiraled deeper into insurgency, perhaps irreversibly, as Pakistan stumbles toward chaos. The democratizing example Iraq was to have set has yet to show itself in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, while American influence over them has suffered in ways that will take years to repair.
And then there is Iran. America’s nemesis for the past three decades has emerged as the Muslim Middle East’s unrivaled power, punctuating its ambitions and capabilities with the launch last week of a satellite into space. Its nuclear ambitions appear undiminished, as does its patronage of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, making the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seem as intractable as ever."
"Has the war enhanced American strategic interests in the troubled Middle East, as President Bush and the other champions of the war long argued would happen?
The answer really is no, or at least not yet.
The overthrow of Saddam Hussein, whatever the underlying motivation, certainly removed a potential threat to American interests, but a bird’s-eye view as the sixth anniversary of the war approaches shows that the Middle East remains as troubling and turbulent as ever. Whatever gains Iraq has brought have to be measured alongside the costs, the casualties and the consequences to America’s standing in the region.
“We are not necessarily weaker,” said Marina Ottaway, director of Middle Eastern affairs for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an author of “Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World.” “But,” she added, “after all these years and the money that we’ve spent, I’m not sure we’re coming out in a stronger strategic position.”
Indeed, Afghanistan has spiraled deeper into insurgency, perhaps irreversibly, as Pakistan stumbles toward chaos. The democratizing example Iraq was to have set has yet to show itself in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, while American influence over them has suffered in ways that will take years to repair.
And then there is Iran. America’s nemesis for the past three decades has emerged as the Muslim Middle East’s unrivaled power, punctuating its ambitions and capabilities with the launch last week of a satellite into space. Its nuclear ambitions appear undiminished, as does its patronage of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, making the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seem as intractable as ever."
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