Iraq As A “Small War”

Bainbridge sees this rubric as a reason to be more optimistic about eventual withdrawal from Iraq. My fear that he’s wrong stems from a few factors. First, 160,000 troops is not small, in the sense of a minor military engagement. Over 100,000 troops for at least ten years is not a small war by any stretch of the imagination. Secondly, this is Iraq. It is sui generis. It has foiled and defeated everyone who has tried to govern it for more than a very short length of time. It is primarily Arab and Muslim. If you do not believe that the Arab Middle East is one of the least tractable, most mysterious, inherently ungovernable regions on the planet, then you could muster some optimism. But any purview of history will disabuse you. This is a big war, sapping and trapping us for the rest of our lives.