Ambitious Goals are by Definition Hard to Achieve
Over at Wizbang Blog, Jay Tea is writing about the progress in the war in Iraq.
What many people overlook about this is that we are attempting something unique and unprecedented in world history. We are attempting to build a functional democracy in a nation and culture that has no history in such things. Moreover, we are attempting to do it after defeating that nation in war.
Much of what he said reminded me that when people set ambitious goals, they must understand that these goals won’t be easy to achieve. Not only will circumstances and other inanimate objects inhibit or thwart our success, other people who don’t want us to succeed for a variety of reasons will do so as well.
It would be interesting to examine the kinds of motives various people and groups have for not wanting the US to succeed. Some will say they only want avoid giving the present administration any victory for partisan political reasons. Others will naturally say they want us to fail because they have different goals and values. Others want us to fail because to succeed means that we achieve greater good than they and they can’t stand that.
Is there a legitimate reason for wanting the US to fail in Iraq? If there is, what is it and what are the underlying assumptions on which it rests? I suspect that those who aren’t actively offereing better ideas (and NO, withdrawal on any basis in the near future is not a route to success in Iraq) really don’t want the US to succeed.
