Wednesday, March 28, 2007

When Force Fails

The use of military force reflects a failure of diplomacy.

What happens when military force fails?


In Baghdad, the Green Zone, that special barricaded enclave where the occupiers of Iraq and their protege government survive, has started receiving rocket fire. According to Juan Cole,

The US embassy in Baghdad circulated a memo to all Americans working for the US government in the Green Zone. It ordered them to wear protective gear whenever they were outside in the Green Zone, including just moving from one building to another. Guerrillas have managed to lob a number of rockets into the area in recent days, and killed one US GI on Tuesday.

The Green Zone is therefore actually the Red Zone. I.e., it is no longer an area of good security contrasting to what is around it. Senator McCain was more wrong than can easily be imagined. Not only can American officials not just stroll through Baghdad districts unarmed and unprotected by armor, but they can't even move that way from one building to the next inside the Green Zone!

If the road to the airport gets cut off, the Green Zone could become a killing zone.


Presidential candidate McCain, on the other hand, says that there are parts of Baghdad where an unguarded Westerner can walk down the street without suffering harm.

He has yet to volunteer a demonstration.


Has military force failed?

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