William F. Buckley on Iraq: It didn’t work

Conservative icon and NRO Editor-At-Large William F. Buckley, Jr. has written a piece for National Review today that has the conservative blogosphere abuzz. In it, he explains why he believes the war in Iraq has been a failure. He writes:

“I can tell you the main reason behind all our woes — it is America.” The New York Times reporter is quoting the complaint of a clothing merchant in a Sunni stronghold in Iraq. “Everything that is going on between Sunni and Shiites, the troublemaker in the middle is America.”

One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samara and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that “The bombing has completely demolished” what was being attempted — to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries.

Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven’t proved strong enough. No doubt they are latently there, but they have not been able to contend against the ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols.

The Iraqis we hear about are first indignant, and then infuriated, that Americans aren’t on the scene to protect them and to punish the aggressors. And so they join the clothing merchant who says that everything is the fault of the Americans.

Read the whole thing.

While I respect Mr. Buckley a great deal, I disagree with his assessment that we’ve failed in Iraq. The jury is still out. Making the best ‘jury is still out’ case is Jeff Goldstein.

What do you think? Was the Dome blast the straw that broke the camel’s back (no pun intended) for you in terms of whether or not we are succeeding in Iraq?

9 Responses to "William F. Buckley on Iraq: It didn’t work"

Cump says:

February 24, 2006 at 11:49 pm

I totally disagree; I have an entire post at Amber which gives the opposite pov, quoted from Iraqis themselves, that Iraqis will pull through this, together. It is not a slam-dunk; the entire thing could fall apart with another, similar, blast, but there is no reason for pessimism.

Buckley is getting old. He is sounding like an American…if we can not finish it tomorrow, why don’t we quit and have a beer.
Severian says:

February 24, 2006 at 11:51 pm

Let’s see, things are so stable that in order to try and incite a “civil war” the increasingly desperate terrorists have to resort to attacks on their own religious symbols in order to try and start one. Gee, they sound just like Democrats, anything to get back into power. Which will, in the long run, only futher estrange them from their “base,” something which they’ve been managing to do with great skill with their attacks on other Muslims. This will calm down, people like Sistani and others have too much to lose, and will get their followers in line. There is still significant dislike between Iraqis and Iranians, there will be a limit to how much the Iranians will be able to influence the Shia in Iraq. Eventually the old animiosities will resurface, especially as Iraq and its people begin to feel more whole as a country with a real government.

So, guess that means it’s time to wet our collective pants and head for the hills. I guess it’s official now, Buckley has gone senile…he’s been getting more and more irrational over the past few years, and obviously is way too impressed with himself.

OTOH, if we, as a country, are such a bunch of panty-waisted wimps, so concerned for our own issues and with our own comfort that we refuse to fight for our way of life, and constantly look for excuses to run away, perhaps we don’t deserve to survive as a people. Great cultures and civilizations usually implode from internal weakness, and it does appear that most of us are ready to be amused to death. Unfortunately, the lemmings will drag the rest of us screaming over the cliff with them.

I still see this as more whining and moaning, substituting for backbone and resolve. The terrorists are desperately looking for a modern day Tet Offensive, and their useful idiots in the MSM and the Democratic party are helping them as much as they can.
Big Bang Hunter says:

February 25, 2006 at 12:46 am

Everytime the al Qaedists reach for the next desperate attempt to stem the tide, the left apologists and group-think collectivists start vibrating like a motel bed in the hopes that at last America, and its hated true Democracy, has been sent off in the dust, and socialism can rear its useless head.

– I see this as the last panicky cowardly quivers before the snake finally dies. If destroying the Mosques doesn’t work, theres nothing left. That they’re able to convince some animals that even destroying their own ancient symbols of their beloved Allah isn’t out of bounds, then so much for the so-called “intense religiosity” of the extreme Islamofascists. Its all a farce, and what most people with common sense knew it was all along.

– This isn’t a time to sag. This is the time to get even tougher. But for the Iraqui’s themselves, not for us. We’ve given them their chance at liberty. It is what it is. They either fight for their soveriegnty or they don’t. We’ve done pretty much all we can, except referee now.

– Bang
forest hunter says:

February 25, 2006 at 1:54 am

If we don’t man up, this ugliness will only increase, demonstrating our lack of resolve. “Finish the move”, to use an analogy from my coaching and wrestling days. The follow through is usually the difference between the winners and habitual losers. The third round is where the metal is tested, unless you’ve pinned them early on.

Fear of this and that by normally intelligent people when it comes to the unsavory business of winning the battles, will be the reason this or any war is lost. MSM thinks (excuse the word abuse) they can repeat their mistakes as they did in Vietnam, to bail out early, before the match is over. If the spineless choose to be so, then is it too much to ask for them to shut up, sit down and hang on, while those who have what it takes to erase this blight, “Git er Done”! Just stand aside and try to stay out of the field of fire. Stop helping the enemy with their ignorance. This goes for ex-Presidents as well as Mr. Buckley.
Big Bang Hunter says:

February 25, 2006 at 2:12 am

Saddam is toast. Old news. Iran and Syria are pretty much isolated now, and anything they do will be in a very clear fishbowl from here on out.

– Since the left view everything through a 5 minute attention span, they’ll keep yammering for a “Are we there yet” answer to something that will go on for several decades. Just as with children, you pat them on the head, assure them it won’t be long now, and then go back to the responsible long term real world work of adults.

– Bang
forest hunter says:

February 25, 2006 at 4:03 am

Syria was always the slippery spud as far as my ex-DEA CIA buddy was concerned. He spent what he calls his formative years over in Afghan, Turkey and that entire Persian region. I think his money is still on the Syrian issue, but things are changing there daily. Hold the line and time will tell all.
steve says:

February 25, 2006 at 10:40 am

All of Japans troops will be gone by July 1st. This illegal war in Iraq is done and has been a failure by all measurement. Our troops sould be extracted today. Peace
sanity says:

February 25, 2006 at 10:48 am

Ah, the policeman steve has deemed the war illegal.

It must be so.

/sarcasm
Tom the Redhunter says:

February 25, 2006 at 1:47 pm

WFB represents an old-style brand of conservatism that was very cautious in it’s promotion of democracy overseas. Not to be confused with a Brent Scowcroft’s “stability uber alles” or the paleoconservaties of Patrick Buchanan, Buckley simply doesn’t think that people and cultures are as maleable as do the neoconservaties (of which I count myself a member).

So while I very much disagree with him, I’m willing to cut him a break. Let’s not forget, folks, that he started the modern conservative movement from scratch.

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