Iraq: A Bad Marriage

If your neighbors are having a domestic quarrel, husband throws a chair at his wife and wife decides to slit husband’s throat and you decide to jump in between them, you have just committed yourself to something you will never finish. You see, domestic disputes are unpredictable and take many paths to an end. Husbands and wives sometimes make up and become endearing lovers once again. So it is with Iraq, we have jumped between several wives and their husbands and we have committed to something unfixable. Yet, we insist that we are doing the spouses a favor.

Involving yourself in someone else’s marriage is not good. It should be left to counselors whose jobs are to counsel the married couples in the woeful mess of their marriage. Talking beats violence every time; no one gets hurt or killed. For a while, the marriage is a little rocky and edgy, but continued counseling often helps the transition from a dysfunctional relationship to a comfortable reunion. Guns and tanks create anarchy. Guns and tanks force submission and believe me a marriage won’t last under forced submission. Prickly marriages forced into a lull are just that, a lull. Steaming and boiling partners eventually strike out against each other again…when a weak link is discovered by one or the other partner.

The United States has for some reason (and we all know the complexity of that fact) has decided to play the role of the neighbor. We are trying to lull the fighting between lovers in a bad relationship. Iraq must settle it’s own unpleasant problems, or seek counseling. They are beyond being compelled to settle their rotten marriage. Counseling with their partners is the answer. Telling American troops to go home is the only solution to their marital discord.

Not only would the removal of the American troops from their home solve their problems, but it would also solve America’s problem, a tone-deaf administration. If the United States is asked to leave the marriage, no doubt it would save face for our leadership. After all, it’s all about winning and losing for the American leaders. With this scenario, there is no winning or losing except for the American people of course. In the long run Americans would win back responsible leadership; a factor that has been missing now for almost four years.