If Jonah Goldberg was in charge…

I generally don’t like reading commentary on the war in Iraq. Few of the conservative commentators are paying the price for their rhetoric, especially the under thirty crowd. And I have little patience for the “Bush lied people died” argument.

Jonah Goldberg, in my opinion, ceases rational arguements. Yes, Goldberg, let’s let the Iraqis vote whether or not to keep us! This is just bad foreign policy all around. First off, if Iraq decides, by democratic vote, to use American troops as continued security, they should also pay a portion of the cost of their pay and benefits. But besides the financial costs, taking things to their logical conclusion, why not let every country with US military bases decide whether or not we should still be there? Germany? Japan? South Korea? I wager that perhaps a lot of countries with existing US military bases would elect to keep US forces present for the relatively inexpensive security.

And while we are at it, why don’t we sponsor referendums in other countries offering our military services? Heck, Taiwan wants security, we’ve got it! Cheap. Just let us build a base on your ground and we’ll staff it!

The United States Military mission statement is not so much to provide security for warring factions, it is to provide security for the United States. There are many ways a country could provide for its security apart from the United States, mercenaries, for example. The reason why some countries use the US Military for security instead of mercenaries is they don’t have to pay the salaries of US service members. And they would have to pay for mercenaries, and dearly because mercenaries are just that, soldiers for hire, who go to the highest bidder.

We did not ask the Iraqis to vote for us to come. We did so because the powers that be deemed it beneficial for us. We did not ask the Germans if we could come. We did so because the powers that be deemed it beneficial for us. Same with Japan. We will leave the above countries when it is beneficial for us. I certainly wish we were isolationists, but since we are not, we should not prostitute our military to become soldiers for hire like Goldberg proposes. The troops are in Iraq at the pleasure of the President of the United States. And when the President of the United States, their Commander in Chief, wills them elsewhere, they will go. Not because it benefits our hosts so much as it benefits us.

Oh, and by the way, if our troops are the only thing holding the country together, perhaps we should let it fall apart. Just a thought. No reason why we have to have a unity government.