TVGal/Frontline: Iraq War -- No Easy Solutions

Melanie McFarland has a good introductory piece on tonight's episode of Frontline. Frontline is usually hard-hitting, objective, and honestly disturbing. I doubt it will stray from that in tonight's documentary. Most Americans, no matter their view on the Iraq conflict, are insulated from the gravity of the situation on the ground over there. We hear about casualties (a daily occurrence; our troops, civilians, journalists), but we don't really see all the really graphic, nasty stuff that will cause even the most hawkish war supporters to take a breath.

For me, and to others like me, there will be conflicting conclusions after watching it. Melanie mentions that it's clear that it will be inhumane for US/coalition forces to pull out, because there would be all out civil war in Iraq. We're pretty close to that now -- elections or not. I suppose she's right in a way. We're largely responsible for the mess, and now we're the ones keeping it from dissolving completely. Regardless of whose fault it is why we're there (i.e. Bush and Co.), we're obligated to see it through. And to repeat, we're not there because Saddam was responsible for 911 (he wasn't), or because Iraq had WMD (they didn't), or because al Qaeda had connections with Iraq (they do now), or because deposing Saddam and promoting democracy in Iraq would stabilize the Middle East (doubtful). That last one I'm willing to concede a little on (it's the bullshit of the first three rationales that got us into the mess in the first place that infuriate me the most). We're there for the humanitarian reason (and again, why doesn't the U.N have a bigger say in this?) to keep peace to give the fledgling government a chance to gain traction so they could eventually fend for themselves and unite the country (which again is doubtful because the Sunni-Shiite rift over there runs as deep as our own North-South divide right before our own Civil War). Of course, what will come of the new Iraqi government? Because we have fomented hate for the US there, will this government be like Hamas? Or will we continue to influence the political process in Iraq to put in more "acceptable" parties? The antithesis of democracy.

And this is the evil genius of the neoconservative foreign policy. Get us into the war using traditional conservative xenophobia, and mimic liberal/progressive non-isolationism/promotion of laudable American values to keep us there.

On a lighter note, I think this is a great piece for Melanie. She's the friend of a friend, and in conversations and her other TV-review articles, she doesn't come across as all that serious on the surface. But here she shows knowledge of the material, and handles it articulately and with seriousness. She proves she's got the chops to move to more serious journalism.