The Problem of Iraq

The Problem of Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7303985.stm

begin quote:"Long-term danger

Iraqi friends of mine who once hated the fact that the Americans were here now praise them for driving the militants from the streets. That is a real success.

Aftermath of bombing in Karbala - 17/03/2008
Violence is down, but Iraqis continue to be killed
But it is small compared with the damage which the war has done to America's reputation. The US state department finds it much harder nowadays to be taken seriously when it criticises other countries for their use of torture and arbitrary arrest.

People the world over have been repelled by things that have been done here: things that are now associated with place-names like Abu Ghraib, Haditha, and Falluja.

Above all, we have seen how hard it is for the Americans to deal with a few thousand lightly armed volunteers.

Germany's 19th-Century Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, said that great powers had to be very careful when they put their military strength to the test. Unless they are overwhelmingly successful, he meant, the perception will be that they have been defeated.

In spite of the new successes on the ground here, that is the long-term danger America faces."endquote

So here we are in Iraq with countries like Russia and China thinking like most foreign countries that America has been defeated by volunteer terrorists without special training overseen by the best of the best.

This is a serious problem of perception that in itself could put the US military in jeapordy or the entire US mainland in real danger!