Again, with probably the same futility, we ask why are we there at all.
We're a little late on this, but
Moon of Alabama has written with a little depth about an article by an aspiring sinecurista, Jennifer Cafarella, at the Institute for the Promotion Study of War which if there truth in labeling, would better be called Institute for More War.
According to Jen, as noted by MoA, we have to:
The U.S. must rapidly change how it is executing policy in five key areas.
Russian military bases. ...Acceptance of Bashar al-Assad. ...Syrian “de-escalation.” ...The “peace” process. ...Iran and al Qaeda. ...
The hinted at solutions, couched in vague language, are for 1. nuke them, 2. kill him, 3. stop it, 4. who cares, 5. destroy 'em all:
Perky little Jen says:
The U.S. must face reality in Syria. It must recognize the threat Russia poses. It must acknowledge the limits of its current partners on the ground. It cannot put faith in a diplomatic charade. It must implement a real strategy against al Qaeda and Iran. And it must recognize the value of American action over American rhetoric.Two administrations have sought to substitute rhetoric for action and to outsource American interests to local partners. The U.S. must abandon this approach and recognize Syria’s importance to American security.It will take a long time and a hard struggle to achieve any outcome in Syria that the U.S. should be willing to live with. It is time to focus on it, devote resources to it, and prepare to do so for a long time.
A couple of conclusions that we can take from Jen with that long time thingy is that she wants to make Syria into Afghanistan where we are, like her, not facing reality while pretending to.
Also, the longer we refuse to waste time not recognizing what a waste of time it is, the more columns Jen and her ilk will get to write.
