Is Iraq A Quagmire?



People are so quick to call Iraq a quagmire that I have to even wonder if they actually understand what the words means. I heard Iraq being called a quagmire because it took US troops a day longer to secure an area than had been planned. We heard all kinds of talk of what a quagmire taking Baghdad would be. Now several short months after liberation we hear the word being used again as if the past several times they were wrong were no deterrent. I think those calling it a quagmire want it to be a quagmire. They wanted to liberation to end in quagmire, they wanted the taking of Baghdad to be a quagmire, and now they're drooling with happiness because rebuilding a nation takes time and even if it were attempted in the most friendly nation in the world there would be setbacks, culture clashes, and mistakes. Every incident is leaped on with animal savagery to demonstrate that this is indeed a quagmire.



I don't read just the traditional news outlets due to other interests I have. I often read small town papers and news from other countries outside of the US, UK, European, and Arabic/Muslim worlds. What I have seen there is a much more balanced view. They don't report every single incident as if it were world headlines. Perhaps because many of these sources don't have such emotional ties to the subject matter you tend to see more of a big picture coverage and the tone seems to be that it's a big job, it's not going perfectly, but in the end things will probably work out.



Let's demonstrate some intellectual honesty here, shall we?