World Report

Iraq was invaded as part of a global security strategy. How are things going arounfd the globe?

Afghan women are setting themselves on fire with increasing frequency, as they prefer a gruesome death to life under an increasingly resurgent fundamentalist strain, including the Taliban.

Mortar attacks are increasing in Somalia, where the insurgency there shows no signs of letting up months after the Ethiopian army defeated the Islamic Courts Union. As Eric Martin put it:

Interestingly enough, despite Ethiopia's penchant for unrestrained brutality and disregard for international norms, as well as relatively inattentive media coverage, it appears that an insurgency is taking root and thriving regardless. To such a degree that Ethiopian forces are heading for the exits and the current Somali government can barely take up residence in the nation's capital.

Why, it's almost as if insurgencies can get by without the aid and comfort of American leftists, humanitarian groups, the UN and the treasonous Western media. One might even conclude that, at times, insurgents have goals and motivations that provide their own animating impetus - not derived solely from the domestic political situation in the occupier's home country. Imagine the implications.

Perhaps we could extrapolate that Iraqi insurgents would be fighting on regardless of whether or not Jamil Hussein is a real person, or whether or not six Sunnis were set on fire that one time?

In Colombia, Chiquita Banana Corp. funneled $1.7 million dollars to organizations listed as terrorist groups, including the FARC, who has kidnapped thousands of people over the years, including American citizens.

In one of the real trouble spots in the world, Zimbabwe, ruled by a fearsome de-facto dictator, Robert Mugabe, opposition leaders have been arrested, jailed and tortured leading up to national elections.

In Russia, practically anyone opposing the policies and the rule of Vladimir Putin gets tossed out a window.

It's reductive to ascribe all of these separate events around the world to the war in Iraq, but in many ways the US sets the tone for global leadership, and whether it's turning a blind eye to dictators and tyranny and terrorists, or giving hope and energy to insurgencies and anti-American groups all over the world, or failing to protect the most downtrodden elements of societies, we have a foreign policy that is dashed on the rocks and unable to function. We've lost our credibility, the support of our key allies, our ability toimpact world opinion, and our moral leadership.

This is a very distressing anniversary.

UPDATE: While I still believe that the Democrats have not done a good enough job articulating a coherent foreign policy strategy (the domestic one, however, is fairly robust), I agree that this is a great idea:

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Thursday outlined his plan to tackle global poverty that calls for educating 23 million children in poor countries and creating a Cabinet-level position to oversee other initiatives.

Seeking to link poverty in other countries to U.S. national security, Edwards argued that militant extremists in nations torn apart by poverty and civil war have replaced government educational systems and are teaching young people to hate the United States.

"When you understand that, it suddenly becomes clear: global poverty is not just a moral issue for the United States -- it is a national security issue for the United States," he said at Saint Anselm College.

"If we tackle it, we have the chance to change a generation of potential extremists and enemies into a generation of friends," Edwards said.

This is certainly an area where the United States can set a more moral course and kill extremists with kindness rather than bullets. And it can work. Marginalizing extremists is part of everyone's war on terror strategy. It's what I meant by using liberal ideas with conservative means; the way to promote democracy is to give people the hope that they can achieve it.