Posted by aogFriday, 04 June 2004 at 07:18 TrackBack Ping URL

Orrin Judd cites an article that expresses concern about the willingness of the Coalition to force the Iraqis to shoulder the burden of controlling Iraq. In particular, the article claims that Iraqi forces can opt out of an operation, and that this was confirmed by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Judd comments

Conservatives understand how reliance on the state makes citizens dependent, why keep a whole other nation dependent on us?

I have to admit, I hadn’t thought of the State Department trying to deliberately foster dependency in Iraq in order to maintain control, but I should have. It would certainly create a more stable situation (always the goal of the State Department) while creating important posts for State Department employees in Iraq. This is, of course, yet another point in favor of rapid turnover of soveriegnity in Iraq.

While it seems a bit contradictory that the State Department, ideological ally of the anti-American crowd, would try to engage in this kind of nanny imperialism, it’s actually in line with the standard Leftist belief that people need to be controlled by government in order to live well. One need only look at the welfare system in this country to see that in action. Surely we can spare Iraq a similar fate.