Posted on 07/08/2004 1:29:53 PM PDT by quidnunc
Q: It appears now to be conventional wisdom (even amongst war hawks) that we have made many major mistakes in Iraq yet I keep asking myself “What were those mistakes?”
Hanson: Well there were mistakes, though troop levels were not one of them. But the errors were not major enough to derail the plan altogether. Here are a few quibbles .…
-snip-
Q: My question has to do with the kind of democracy we see in countries like Japan and India and Japan seem (to me) far removed from Western style democracies. Will you comment on the essential differences?
Hanson: Both still are in some ways traditional non-Western societies, where family, class, status, and hereditary privilege matter much more than in the United States …
-snip-
Q: What would constitute "victory" for our enemy? Were you in their shoes, what would be your goal? How would you define victory and then remain victorious?
Hanson: An enemy victory in Iraq is something most likely to be a government of jihadists, whether Sunnis or Shiites, like Iran. An agenda of such a state? …
-snip-
Q: Was Fallujah a "slick" bit of U.S. political maneuvering to punish the Shia'as (especially Sistani) for not reining in Sadr early on, for making to many demands in general, and for over cooperating with the Iranians?
Hanson: I’ve read that, but sort of doubt it. …
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
FYI
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