Everybody has their opinion about what we should do in Iraq, and I'll add my voice to the din; it will not necessarily be wise or correct, but at least it will be better informed than many, and tempered by some experience. We keep saying that we want Iraq to stand up on its two feet, to join the world community and become a normal country. Our leaders need to know that we don't have to win against the insurgency, we need the other side to lose.
That might seem tautological, but it isn't. We can simultaneously accomplish both goals if we let the Iraqi people, with American assistance, defeat the insurgency. After all, it's their country. Whenever we end up leaving, they're the ones who have to live there. If they want to live in a land dominated once again by the cruel whims of a small elite, so be it (though I don't think for a moment they want to do that.) If Iraq is no longer a cesspool of lawlessness and a potential threat to the U.S., we win.
Letting the people of Iraq establish justice within their borders will give them self-confidence, just as our defeat of the British strengthened our resolve to make a new nation. What do we care if we're not the ones who can exclusively claim victory, if Iraq is pacified and free?
UPDATE: Newt Gingrich agrees with me, saying, "Americans can't win in Iraq. Only Iraqis can win in Iraq." I'm frankly surprised he reads Catholic Light. Welcome, Newt.
