Misplaced Quote of the Day
"it would be a grand social science experiment. And given the history out there, I can’t demonstrate, I can’t prove to you that that social science experiment would fail catastrophically, but the risks, the warnings of history are stark enough to me that I would really prefer not to find out."
-Kenneth Pollack, today, at AEI warning about the risks of getting out of Iraq.
I could think of a different time, on a slightly different topic, that these words could have come from Dr. Pollack and maybe been more helpful to the country. I leave it to readers to determine the topic and the timeframe.
"Imagine how different the Middle East and the world would be if a new Iraqi state were stable, prosperous, and a force for progress in the region, not a source of violence and instability. Imagine if we could rebuild Iraq as a model of what a modern Arab state could be, showing the frustrated and disenfranchised of the Arab world what they should be trying to fashion. Imagine if there were a concrete symbol demonstrating that America seeks to help the Arab world rather than repress. Invading Iraq might not just be our least bad alternative, it potentially could be our best course of action."
-- The Threatening Storm by Kenneth Pollack, p. 338
Posted by: Jon | December 16, 2006 at 07:34 PM