The following posts are Evan Coyne Maloney's responses to questions submitted by the members of Debate for America:
Question 1: How would he define "victory" in Iraq? How would he define
"defeat?"
When you're trying to forge a stable society out of a nation that's
been terrorized for a generation, victory can only be apparent in the
long term. In a decade, we should be in a good position to know
whether we've achieved our goals in Iraq.
If, ten years from now, Iraq is a democratic country that respected
the individual rights of its citizens, that would be victory to me.
If Iraq reverted to despotism, if Iraq became a sham democracy that
held meaningless elections, if Iraq treated women the way the Taliban
did, or the Saudis and Iranians do, then it would be a sign of defeat.
People expect Iraq to be stable immediately, and it isn't possible.
For a little historical perspective, here's a passage from Life
Magazine:
Quote:
A tour of the beaten-up cities of Europe six months after
victory is a mighty sobering experience for anyone. Europeans, friend
and foe alike, look you accusingly in the face and tell you how
bitterly they are disappointed in you as an American. They cite the
evolution of the word "liberation." Before the Normandy landings it
meant to be freed from the tyranny of the Nazis. Now it stands in the
minds of the civilians for one thing, looting.
You try to explain to these Europeans that they expected too much.
They answer that they had a right to, that after the last war America
was the hope of the world. They talk about the Hoover relief, the
work of the Quakers, the speeches of Woodrow Wilson. They don't blame
us for the fading of that hope. But they blame us now.
Never has American prestige in Europe been lower.
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That's from 1946. You hear the same things about Iraq today, don't you?
I think the only way to achieve world peace is to ensure that every
person lives in freedom. True liberal democracies do not start wars
against other liberal democracies. Tyrants create the conditions that
foster war. To prevent war, we need to end tyranny. We won't be able
to do it ourselves, it can't all be done at once, and it won't
necessarily require military action in every case. But if this world
made a concerted effort to bring about worldwide freedom and liberty
for every person on this planet, in 100 years, despotism would be
dead. And if it were, we'd be a hell of a lot closer to achieving
world peace than if we just held hands, chanted, and marched around
with pleasant-sounding slogans on signs. When it comes to bringing
about world peace, those actions achieve nothing except boosting the
self-satisfaction of the participants.