Years of Poems and Spirits

It was said Colin Powell warned GWB before the 2003 invasion: if you break it, you have to fix it. I did not realize how right he was.

My friend, Arif, told me a while ago that the war upset a long-held equilibrium between Sunni and Shia powers in the region. I did not realize how important this point was.

I always thought Iran was the more menacing force in the region: if Sadam is a barking pet dog, Iran is one of those animals who wear flagrant colors but is poisonous. This New Yorker article confirms that: “dragging Iran into conflict with the United States is key to Al Qaeda’s strategy … Iran is preparing to retaliate for or abort this strike by means of using powerful cards in its hand”–namely, Hezbollah, its sympathizers across the globe and all the oil fields in the region.

Whatever Zionist motivation there was in the 2003 Iraq War, Israel’s concern over Iranian nuclear development is legitimate: because the nukes are not merely weapons but also “tension amplifier” in global affairs. It is not their actual usage, but the threat of it that is the root of the problem. Yet neither Israel or the U.S. has any credit/resource left to agitate for a case against Iran.

I only wish there is a conventional war break out in the Middle East before the Iranians got their nukes ready. The blood letting will release some of the tension.

Just couple of thoughts on Rummy’s dismisal:
1. It was an unceremonious firing. But event NYT was kind enough to come out and call it “resignation“. Rummy said he’d serve “at the President’s pleasure”. Now he is not serving because the President is NOT pleased: that is hardly a resignation.
2. Why now? The timing just baffles me: had Rummy was let go a day or two before the Hussein sentence, it would be a double pump FOR the Republican cause. Now, it is a belated gesture, ruins Rummy’s last years (Bush basically wrote the last paragraph of Rummy’s obituary) and only instant-gratifies his (Bush’s) critics. I have a feeling that it was not Rove’s call but Bush’s hot-blooded American-ness (aka Homer Simpson syndrom).
3. I always have a soft spot for Rummy (but not Dick C.): afterall, he is a man with a plan. Iraq is a mistake but military reform is apparently a more consummate mission/passion of his. A while ago, New Yorker ran a profile on Eric Shinseki, saying he had very similar ideas. But can you imagine anything gets done had Shinseki initiated those reforms?

There is something Shakespearian about Rummy’s career. He had a passion and the passion ruined him. Oh well. I am not sorry to see him go, but am sorry to see how he was let go.