[theapportioner]

We lost the world's trust, and until we get it back, we can't even attempt to place any infrastructure in place over in Afganistan or Iraq.

You think so? The US, if anyone, has the resources for it, and has the ability to do it alone. I'm just not convinced the Bush administration, or the majority of Americans, have the resolve to do anything significant. Nor do they have a clue as to how to make democracy work in a vastly different cultural context from ours. You can't just take the American system and transplant it anywhere, expecting it to work nicely. Fixing bridges and oil wells is pretty trivial compared to what's really needed. By tabling the question until after the war's over, I fear that after the initial euphoria, different groups here and abroad and in Iraq will squabble over this and that, and nothing substantial will get done. Iraq, eventually, will probably be turned into a loose confederation of states drawn upon ethnic and religious boundaries, but I am very pessimistic that the Middle East will be a significantly safer place, in regards to our national security.