Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Why are we in Iraq? What does it mean to stay the course? What are our goals there, now that Saddam is gone? When are we done? Haven't we made the point we wanted to make to other governments that might support terror? How long do we need to keep troops there? There is an ongoing discussion in the comment thread that started out with the question of why Iraqis are fighting us now -- a version of my latest thoughts there follows. My understanding of the bottom-line, irreducible goal at this point: A stable region encompassing the current boundaries of the present state of Iraq, which region would not be a base of operations for terrorism, and which would be run by and for Iraqis or citizens of Iraq's successor states. This goal must be accomplished in a way that does not embolden Islamic terrorists who perceive a weak and indecisive US. Long term commitment of troops would seem to be a given if we are to accomplish the goals set out above. A base of operations in the region could be a very handy thing to have, although it can also breed blowback. I didn't want to invade when we did. But what are our alternatives now to finishing what we started? Chaos. Terrorism. A new dictator. Democracy is a goal, but it could be a long process. This is not some idealistic Wilsonian adventure we are on, although transmitting the best of American ideals to the region would be a good thing for everyone involved, and should be a big-picture goal of our foreign policy, which backs its share of bad guys. As Erskine Bowles said last week, We own the problem. If we succeed in sharing the problem with other countries, as we must, we are still the ones who invaded. And if Iraq becomes a breeding ground for terrorism, we will bear the brunt of it. 3:44:54 PM    comment []

Days since Greensboro attorney Will Jordan filed to run as a Democrat in the 6th district: 4. Days since this site published a statement from Jordan about his decision to run: 2. Years since a Democrat has challenged incumbent-for-life Howard Coble: 8. Number of articles to date in the News & Record mentioning Will Jordan's candidacy: 0. 8:40:10 AM    comment []

Writing about the rerelease of Monty Python's "Life of Brian," The New Yorker's Anthony Lane makes a curious reference to "players with their stick-on Ted Nugent beards."   Ted Nugent beards?   The Nuge has dabbled in facial hair over the course of his long career, and sported a pretty good-sized beard at some point in the early '70s, but he is not known as a long-bearded rocker -- certainly not to the point of becoming pop-culture shorthand for "biblical hirsuteness."   Is this a failure on the part of the legendary New Yorker fact-checking department?   Didn't Lane actually mean ZZ Top? 8:25:11 AM    comment []

The new downtown park in GSO will have highspeed wireless access to the Internet. Nice. Hoggard is already calculating the free usage radius. 8:13:50 AM    comment []