John McCain's "MacArthurian Regency"
I am reading Jim Webb’s A Time to Fight (Broadway, 2008). In the book, in which he opines on many of the issues of the day – but, most especially on foreign policy and military ones, he speaks of the Neo-Conservative idea of a “MacArthur Regency” in Iraq. He writes:
Those who wished for a “MacArthurian Regency” in Baghdad that would reign for fifty years forgot one important historical fact: After World War II, General Douglas MacArthur did not even set foot on Japanese soil until the Emperor had officially announced Japan’s surrender. MacArthur then carefully preserved the structure of the Japanese system and governed through it. By contrast, the government of Iraq was decapitated without a government to replace it, and its main political party was eliminated. Our occupying troops in Japan immediately became the friends of the Japanese people. In Iraq they immediately became terrorist targets on a daily basis, the most visible symbols of an unfinished violence brought upon Iraq from the outside. From the first months after our invasion, insurgents from a variety of ethnic groups, all of which resented an American occupation, worked hard to kill them. . . . Iraq is smack-dab in the middle of an overwhelmingly volatile region. (p. 161).
As we listen to John McCain talk about “success” in Iraq, much of it is fanciful. At the same time that he touts the successes of Iraq he wags a finger at Iran and promises harsh sanctions. Webb notes in the book that for some time Iran and China have had a strong relationship, which suggests that even as we try to put the screws on Iraq’s meddlesome neighbor, they are looking for help to China, which is eager to buy its oil to fuel it’s every growing economy.
As Webb points out, and as I found in my own online searches, the idea of a Neo-Con MacArthur like regency, assumes at minimum the long term presence of US bases in Iraq (as we now have in South Korea and Germany). But, is that wise? Does this suggest any understanding of Islam? Although it has been severed, McCain’s connection with Rod Parsley suggests that the GOP candidate doesn’t understand very well the realities of Islam or of the Middle East. If nothing else, Iraq is the Arab/Islamic heartland. Next to Mecca and Medina, few cities are as important to Muslim heritage as Baghdad, the site of an ancient caliphate. With that in mind, does it really make sense to put US armed forces in Iraq for a long term?
The path that John McCain is setting out for America is a dangerous one. If he wins in November it’s quite possible that the costly war we’re fighting will only escalate. Remember that the Vietnam War spread beyond its borders to Cambodia and Laos, before it came to an inglorious end.
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