Oxford professor Richard Caplan examines the challenges of exiting from state-building operations.
When and How to End a Foreign Intervention
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Exit Strategy
Iraq, Elections, and the Costs of War
For the first time in recent history, a foreign policy issue is at the top of the electorate’s mind as they head to the polls. Clearly the Iraq War loomed over the mid-term elections before October rolled around, but with the U.S. death toll reaching its highest mark since November 2004, reports arguing the Iraqi death toll now tops 655,000, new estimates on the cost of the war reaching 1 trillion dollars, and Bush’s PR team quickly putting window dressing on his vow to “stay the course”, the elections are being called a referendum on Iraq.
Leaving Iraq: A How-To
Challenged in a recent press conference on his strategy to “win” the Iraq War, President Bush defiantly stated, “If I didn’t think it would work, I would change.” Instead of “staying the course” and bad-mouthing critics by comparing them to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, Bush should be seeking new and creative ways to stop the utter destruction of Iraq and the constant loss of our soldiers.