I see in the Washington Post today that Charles Krauthammer wants to go to war with Syria. Well, good for him. Not a whole lot to say here, except perhaps this. When the U.S. went to war with Iraq, please remember, policymakers had only the foggiest idea what Iraq’s internal structure was like—the social dynamics, the nuances of the Shi’ite community, the intricate tribal structures, the longstanding feuds and rivalries. And, please remember, that ignorance led to a lot of horrific mistakes very early on that left a lot of people dead. But in the case of Iraq, we at least had the exile groups and our Kurdish pals to give us some information about what was going on. In Syria, we don’t even have that. Just, you know, throwing that out there.
Meanwhile, Justin Logan notes that, at least according to Gen. John Abizaid, “it’s unclear whether or not there’s been any Syrian government complicity in [abetting insurgents].” Not that that will stop Krauthammer from getting ready to lock and load on the way to Damascus, but it would be nice if facts played a role here once in a great while…
