The early phase of the Second World War, from the German invasion of Poland to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, is remembered as the period of the "Phony War." The idea is that Germany intended to attack the USSR all along, and the earlier period was just a prelude to the "real" war. [See comments on this definition.]
I thought about that when I saw the title of Ron Brownstein's article on Democratic proposals to internationalize the Iraq War: Candidates All Press for Global Iraq Effort Los Angeles Times 12/04/03.
I certainly understand why the Democrats would take that position. They would like to offer the public and our troops that are fighting there some hope for a solution that would be something other than a mess. They also need to criticize Bush for his reckless disregard of American alliances.
But with every week that passes, I get the feeling more and more that it's a phony debate. There was a real possibility of united action with other major military powers besides Britain before the war. But Bush and Rummy rejected it, because they had decided on war already in the summer of 2002, if not sooner.
There was another chance after the fall of Baghdad and before the guerrilla resistance started in earnest, possibly as late as June. The US could have invited the UN to take formal direction of the occupation and could possibly have gotten a significant number of European troops to assist. But Bush and Rummy didn't want that. They wanted to run Iraq for the benefit of Halliburton and Bechtel and rearrange Iraq's economy in disregard of international law. And they wanted to reduce the US commitment there to free up troops to more credibly threaten Syria and/or Iran with invasion.
Now, despite the pleasant words in which diplomats are so expert in tossing around, no one is going to come in and bail the US out of the mess. Bush and Rummy broke it, and it's up to them to fix it. And even the best resolution is not likely to leave a lot of good impressions on the American public at this point.
Politicians have to offer hope. But the truth is looking more and more like all the good options are gone.
5 comments:
Bruce, greetings from Scotland. The Phony War lasted from the final destruction of the Polish armies in October 1939 to the opening of the German offensive in the West on 10 May 1940. During this period there were no fighting fronts, just occasional air and sea combat, which became a bit more intense in April 1940, when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. After 10 May 1940 it was an unmistakably real war. David
I don't think there is any hope with Bush in office. The administration is too unwilling to give up any control. They want the world to provide help, but want to dictate the conditions.
I would hope that a Democratic president would be more flexible.
David, thanks for the correction on "phony war". I was using the concept more expansively than it's normally used, which is to refer to the period you mentioned. The Germans called that period the Sitzkrieg (phony war). - Bruce
I do tend to think of that longer period as being the "phony war." The invasion of Poland, the fall of France, the Battle of Britain and the Russo-Finnish war were all-too-real, of course. But the main contest, between the Western allies and the USSR on one side and the Axis powers on the other didn't develop until the invastion of the USSR. But "phony war" is the term that was and is used to describe the quiet period in West in the shorter time period. - Bruce
I'm sure a Democratic President would be more flexible. It's virtually impossible to predict at this point, though, what kind of situation will be left after next year's election for whoever winds up in the White House, Bush, a Democrat or some other Republican. (The latter unlikely but always possible.) But at this point, the security situation in Iraq is such a mess that it's hard to see how even Britain would be willing to increase their military contribution significantly. - Bruce
Post a Comment