Iraq today is a lot like my car (hear me out). There has been a lot of talk over the last few days about substantially increasing troop levels in what is now a hopelessly lost war. Read about it hear:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6184965.stmSo how does Iraq resemble my car? Well, today I took my car to the shop for the 6th time this year. Any repair today, perhaps even a small one could push my annual repair costs over $4000, and the car is still a peice of shit. Tis no vehicle, tis a curse. I've had the transmission rebuilt, struts replaced, an engine mount repaired, and a slew of other problems. Yet the car still doesn't run well. There is a natural urge to keep doing minor repairs to the car just to keep it on the road long enough to justify the major repairs that I've done. "Have work done on the front-end so that you can get your money's worth out of the rebuilt tranny," I tell myself. Perhaps I am right. Maybe I can get another year out of the car. But it is entirely likely that I am wrong, and any more money I put into the thing I might as well be flushing down the toilet.
Iraq is no different. There was a time when I might have agreed with the argument that more troops are needed to stabilize the country and finally wipe out the insurgency, but those days are long gone. Why keep pouring resources into a conflict that was clearly lost a long time ago? Iraq is a complete wreck. We can keep trying to fix it, tinker with our strategy, make minor adjustments. But sooner or later we are just going to have to realize that it the damage is irreparable, the war is lost, and get the hell out of there.
