False Dawn
Obama's election doesn't mean peace is breaking out
all over – far from it
by
Justin Raimondo
by Justin Raimondo
 As
a new administration takes power in Washington and the promise of
"change" is in the air, we have to ask ourselves: when-oh-when
is it coming? When will the dam break on the sclerotic foreign policy
thinking of the past eight – heck, the past 50 – years?
The first place
to begin is, of course, the Middle East, scene of our latest – and
worst – transgressions, starting with but hardly limited to the
invasion and occupation of Iraq. What is the likelihood of change
in this area?
 The
ongoing occupation of Iraq is a costly
operation, in more
ways than just financially. It imposes on us the responsibility
for maintaining order in a country that is always, seemingly, on
the brink of civil
war, as well as laying on our buckling shoulders the burden
of supporting a government we are increasingly
at cross-purposes
with. The Bush administration's attempt to implant a colonial-style
Iraqi protectorate is just not sustainable, and Barack Obama came
into office largely on the strength of his promise to end this misconceived
adventure in "liberation." The problem is that he has
no intention of keeping his campaign promise, as the New York
Times reported
shortly after the election:
"On
the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified
and motivated his liberal base, vowing to 'end the war' in Iraq.
But as he moves closer to the White House, President-elect Obama
is making clearer than ever that tens of thousands of American troops
will be left behind in Iraq, even if he can make good on his campaign
promise to pull all combat forces out within 16 months."
David
Axelrod to the contrary, the idea that Obama is going to get
us out of Iraq at all, never mind in 16 months, is going to die
a hard death, but die it will – unless, of course, the antiwar movement,
so-called, gets up off its fat ass and starts making demands of
the candidate so many of them supported.
Read
the rest of the article
January
22, 2009
Justin
Raimondo [send him mail]
is editorial director of Antiwar.com
and is the author of An
Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard and Reclaiming
the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement.
Copyright
© 2009 Antiwar.com
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