Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter is worried that Democrats will sound like “surrender monkeys” if they continue to demand withdrawal from Iraq without putting forward any alternative strategy for fighting terrorism. So he has an idea for a Dem “bumper sticker” to compete with the GOP’s “War on Terror”: “Pull and Strike”.
All right, the meaning isn’t instantly clear. In full, but too long for most bumpers, it is “Pull out of Iraq and strike al-Qa’eda from the air.” It is presented as a replay of the course that Bill Clinton chose in Kosovo. There the U.S. committed no ground troops. Instead, by bombing Belgrade and harassing Serbian troop convoys, we compelled the Milosevich regime to relinquish its hold on the province. Mr. Alter thinks we can be equally successful in the same way against al-Qa’eda in Iraq, and he has found a freshman Congressman and war veteran, Patrick Murphy (D–Pa.), to endorse the concept.
In just how many ways is it ridiculous?
First, Serbia is a nation-state and fielded an army in Kosovo. It had readily identifiable targets to attack. Al-Qa’eda doesn’t have a capital that can be devastated, and its soldiers don’t travel in columns along roads or engage in conventional battles. Mr. Alter and Rep. Murphy are confident that, once the “irritation” of an American presence is gone, intelligence about the enemy’s whereabouts will flow in from now-friendly Iraqis, more than offsetting the absence of eyes in the theater. How this will work isn’t explained. Will we set up a call center in Kuwait and advertise its 800 number on late night Baghdad TV?
Second, what made it possible for the Kosovo operation to succeed without the insertion of ground forces was the shaky standing of President Milosevich and his communist cadre, which had already lost most of the former Yugoslavia to breakaway republics. It couldn’t ask a demoralized populace to endure unending disruption of its daily life. Again, there is no al-Qa’eda parallel. The group has no real population base and is, in any case, indifferent to civilian suffering.
Third, the aftermath in Kosovo wasn’t especially admirable. Once the Serbian army left and the American didn’t appear on the scence, there was no force at hand to restrain ethnic strife. As a result, the Serbian minority was forced to flee after suffering a vast amount of death and destruction. The parallel to Iraq is obvious.
As a thought experiment, one might try to imagine how “Pull and Strike” would have worked in Anbar province, where American invincibility encouraged local leaders to throw in with the Marines rather than the mufsidun. How could air strikes have had the same effect?
If unassisted air power could carry the day in Iraq, that would be wonderful. Unfortunately, the problems with locating targets, the inability of bombs to hold ground and the high risk of collateral damage make the Kosovo approach unworkable. I doubt, indeed, that the inventors of “Pull and Strike” actually care whether it could succeed. They are searching for a slogan to shield them during the 2008 election campaign. Once their faction has control of both Congress and the White House, the surrender monkeys can party like it’s 1938.
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