the hard decisions

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Tuesday he favors removing most American troops from the Baghdad area and southern Iraq while maintaining a smaller security force in northern Iraq for a limited period.

Vilsack, who announced last week he would seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, said Iraq may have to endure a period of heavy violence following an American troop redeployment, but that it was the only way to force the Iraqi government to make the hard decisions about restoring order to the fractured country.

"It's tough love, no question about it," Vilsack told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview. "It may very well require them to go through some chaotic and very difficult times for them to finally decide it is not in their interest to continue down that road."

... Vilsack called the continued presence of American troops in Iraq "both a crutch and an excuse," delaying the Iraqi government from seizing control of the country and tamping down the sectarian violence.

from Vilsack wants smaller U.S. force in Iraq (emphasis added)

This is basically the mainstream view taking form among our politicians, so this is not so much a knock against Vilsack, with whom i am barely acquainted but already beginning to dislike, so much as it is about the attitudes and unspoken assumptions that underline our country's approach to war, politics, and power.

"Going through some chaotic and very difficult times" sounds eerily similar to Bush's comment about the Iraqi people "tolerating" a remarkable level of violence in the aftermath of the invasion.

He thinks they're going to see worse than they're seeing now? The UN is already saying that torture in Iraq now is worse than it was under Saddam Hussein, which is astounding and chilling to contemplate. It's worse than it was when Uday had free reign to put people in wood chippers feet first?

In this view, chaos (IOW, civil war) will rage unabated until the Iraqi government makes "the hard decisions" which will bring about the cessation of violence. NOT the people of Iraq -- you know, the ones who are burying their children -- but the government. Because, unspoken assumption here: peace comes when rulers impose it. Not from neighbors of different ethnicities and sects who talk and work together and shop at the market together and help each other rebuild after bad weather. Not from parents who want to protect their children.

"The hard decisions" is a codeword which means the US government's idea of victory in Iraq now is for another dictator to take over and impose "peace" through violence, intimidation, and strongarming. So basically, Vilsack's proposal boils down to: "We're going to step aside and covertly support the most promising dictator who comes along. We'll ask the media to kindly refrain from posting about the human rights violations of the new regime during the 'transitional period.'"