#1235 Pipes reflects in NRO on the invasion of Iraq

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Join Daniel Pipes in Cyprus in October 2013. For more information, click here.

Please take a moment to visit and log in at the subscriber area, and submit your city & country location. We will use this information in future to invite you to any events that we organize in your area. Dear Reader: The Mediterranean island of Cyprus tops the news today because of its bank crisis and the impact this might have on the Euro zone. But that's not all that is newsworthy about Cyprus; in addition, it has recently become a part of the Middle Eastern dynamic. This results primarily from two developments: (1) the discovery of huge oil and gas reserves and (2) the increasingly aggressive stance of Turkey. These developments have spurred a new partnership between Cyprus and Israel while increasing tensions with Egypt and Lebanon. Building on the positive experience of the fact-finding trip to Israel that I led in March 2012, I am leading a second trip, this time to Cyprus on October 14-21, 2013. We will explore these Middle Eastern game-changing issues in depth, both through travels around the island and in discussions. It will take place in conjunction with Heritage Study Programs (which organized the 2012 Israel trip) and the Thucydides Think Tank (which hosted me in Cyprus in 2011). Please click here to learn more, including the schedule and costs. Travel will include visits to both sides of the island, including the towns of Nicosia, Limasol, Famagusta, Kyrenia, and the mountains and beaches. In addition to my analysis throughout the week, you will meet and hear from policymakers, business leaders, journalists, and academics from both the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus, as well as select Israeli specialists. I welcome you to an inexpensive, informative, and enjoyable week and very much hope to see you in October 2013. Again, click here for trip details.  Yours sincerely, Daniel Pipes Reflections on the Invasion of Iraq by Daniel Pipes March 18, 2013 Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/03/reflections-on-the-invasion-of-iraq Send Comment RSS Share: Be the first of your friends to like this. How does one understand the U.S.-led expeditionary force that attacked Iraq exactly a decade ago, on March 18, 2003? Saddam Hussein's regime was one of the most monstrous in human history, enslaving some 20 million people to his cruel and demanding will and, without provocation, attacking several of his neighbors (Iran and Kuwait especially, also Israel and Saudi Arabia). In addition, he aspired to dominate the worldwide oil & gas trade and tried to build nuclear weapons. One can hardly imagine a greater menace to civilized life. Much too easy a death for a monster. The decade that followed has seen a return to the more mundane awfulness of the Middle East. Communal problems, political turmoil, Islamist growth, poor relations with neighbors but at least no gassing of one's own population, invading neighbors, or threats to the world economy. This is all anyone could have expected – except that George W. Bush naïvely convinced himself and others that Iraq could be free and prosperous and even a model for the region. He then led a trillion-dollar effort that cost thousands of lives and came up woefully short. So, yes, Iraq and the world are better off with Saddam gone. But the high hopes of a rehabilitation by the U.S. government have been disappointed. This should offer a pointed lesson for future temptations to "nation build": Western powers enjoy overwhelming battlefield superiority but face great difficulty when trying to shape other countries. Don't try the latter unless the stakes are high enough and the will exists to see it through. (March 18, 2013) Related Topics:  Iraq, US policy This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.

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