Iraq Thoughts from Will

Like me, my friend Will is a physicist, but unlike me he's a serious foreign policy junkie, too. His focus on international relations often leaves him off to one side from our nation's conventional Republican/Democrat political spectrum. We don't always agree on politics or policy, but I always find his insights valuable and he's become one of my main sources of understanding in the international arena.

At any rate, he just had a letter published in the New York Times, regarding the past and current significance of the war in Iraq (it's the second one on that page). And even cooler, today's lead editorial in the paper quoted from it. For the sake of those who aren't registered (or who don't follow links), I thought I'd quote it here (with his permission, naturally):

To the Editor:

You note that Iraq had nothing to do with the conflict with global jihadism before the 2003 invasion. But that does not mean that the Bush administration is not correct to cast it as the central struggle against Islamic extremism today.

The war in Iraq, which I opposed, has evolved into one of the most consequential conflicts in American history. We simply must win if we do not want to see Al Qaeda ascendant across the Middle East.

The left has to get over its anger over President Bush's catastrophic blunder and recognize the seriousness of the strategic realities in Iraq and beyond.

Will McElgin
Chicago, June 25, 2005

I think that what he says here makes a lot of sense, and it's awfully close to my own opinion on the matter. You may agree, or you may not. But if you're interested in seeing more of Will's thoughts on global politics or in commenting on his letter, take a look at his blog.

EDIT: After some comments by Patri, I realize that it could help to mention that to Will, "win" more or less means "Get Iraq on track for a stable democracy and leave." A recent blog post of his gives more detail.