Reasons and Goals

What is Howard Fineman talking about?

Like backgammon players in a bazaar, Middle East leaders are shuttling pieces around the geopolitical board with cunning dexterity, all in response to Bush’s response to 9/11. Transforming the region wasn’t the stated intent of the American-led invasion of Iraq; it was supposed to be about WMD and Al Qaeda. But it’s difficult to argue that there isn’t a causal connection between the upbeat news and the president’s insistence on what amounted to a military takeover of most of the Arabic-speaking world.

There's quite a few countries (20+) in the Middle East. Which ones has President Bush taken over militarily? Iraq. Any others? Nope. None.

So what is Howard Fineman talking about? The stated intent of the invasion of Iraq was to improve US security. AQ and WMD were just two reasons for it. The Bush Administration put forth a Four Freedoms Speech that set forth the necessity of democracy and freedom as grounds for improving US national security. People who are involved in a consensual government are less likely to breed fanatical terrorists, which thereby reduces the chances of said terrorists striking US interests.

Also, Fineman is having difficulty understanding the difference between reasons and goals. Improved US security was the goal - it was the implicit intent of the US going into Iraq. AQ and WMD were two reasons out of many. One can now add additional reasons to go into Iraq, and even subtract reasons for the invasion, but the intent and goal remained the same - improving US security. The upbeat news out of the region was spawned because of the success of the Iraqi elections and a realization that the other despots in the region were similarly despised by the overwhelming majority. Mubarak sees what is happening and is trying to change things in order to remain in power. Assad is too clumsy to be able to stem the tide of change in Lebanon, and has to worry about his own power base in Syria. Iran remains firmly entrenched, but there are signs that there is dissent growing there as well.