Nathaniel

Shockey

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July 21, 2008

Apolitical Good News Drowns in Political Spin

With a presidential election looming between, arguably, the most left-leaning Democrat and left-leaning Republican ever, it’s practically impossible to analyze any current event objectively. The term seems to become irrelevant. There are only two ways to consider things – politically and apolitically.

Concerning the war on terror, there have been two major developments of late. First, Gen. David Petraeus has suggested that, while Al Qaeda is certainly not going to abandon Iraq, there is reason to believe that the terrorist organization will be shifting some degree of focus back to Afghanistan. Second, the Iraqi government has put increasing pressure on the U.S. to set down a general timeline for troop withdrawal.

Let’s consider both events politically and apolitically. Apolitically, both developments are overwhelmingly positive.

There’s a reason Iraq took center stage in the war. First, Iraq was one of the biggest culprits for harboring and supporting terrorism. Second, Iraq’s geographical location, right in the heart of the Middle East, automatically gives it a primary role in any Middle Eastern crisis. And third, Iraq has tons of oil, oil upon which the U.S. unfortunately relies. If these reserves fell into the hands of our enemies, we’d be in a far worse energy situation than the one about which everyone is currently griping.

If Iraq is so significant, then it’s great news that Al Qaeda is fleeing, tail between its legs, to Afghanistan.

But now consider the situation politically. Many people have been clinging to the incredibly weightless idea that America erroneously shifted its focus from Afghanistan to Iraq. Unless John McCain takes Barack Obama to task in a specific and forceful way, something he has yet proven unwilling or unable to do about anything, Obama will quite easily take this Al Qaeda development and fuel an ignorant fire. Americans may, once again, fall into the trap of considering the U.S. presence in Iraq a result of President Bush’s reckless war-mongering, seeing Al Qaeda’s newfound presence in Afghanistan as some sort of proof that this is where we should have been all along. One can only hope Americans consider the facts for themselves instead of letting Obama do it for them.

Concerning the Iraqi government’s growing conviction that the U.S. presence is becoming less necessary, isn’t this great news? Granted, this inspired notion may smart softly of naiveté. But the point is that the vast majority of benchmarks set forth from the beginning of the surge have been reached. The only reason the Iraqi government is afforded any of this optimism is that the situation is finally, obviously, the best it’s ever been.

But it’s easy (and nauseating) to imagine the spin this will get. Those who have been shouting “The U.S. presence is the problem!” and “The Iraqis don’t even want us there!” could appear vindicated. Even though these ideas are ridiculously simplistic and mostly incorrect, when has that ever stopped the “skilled orator” who is the Democratic nominee? I can already hear him, back and refreshed from his trip abroad, talking about his confirmed suspicions that “It has become increasingly clear that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is opposed by Americans and Iraqis alike.” And as usual, many will think to themselves, “That sounds pretty reasonable,” and nothing more. After all, scavenging and sifting through the propaganda for facts, and reaching a logical conclusion on one’s own is no cakewalk, especially nowadays.

Both parties have been opportunistically using the war on terror for years now. But the party that comes out on top will be the one that manifests the most people who rise out of the marshlands of politics and into the jungle of the real world. I think that’s the kind of change Obama has been trying to describe for years now. Perhaps his actions have fallen short, but Americans do want change, and the first place they want to see it is in our government officials. We want to believe that there is more to our country than politicians on a crusade to be proven right, to prove others wrong, brazenly seeking the ultimate goal of re-election.

The Iraqi government’s optimism and Al Qaeda’s shift from Iraq to Afghanistan are both great signs, and if we fail to recognize them as they are, getting stuck on the political front here at home, then truly, America is losing a more dangerous war than we realize.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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