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Monday, March 17, 2008

The Questions the Media Does Not Ask

This is Steven Petrick Posting.

One of the scary things about watching media coverage of a Presidential election is the questions that they do not ask. If a candidate stands up and says that he or she will pull the troops out of Iraq, why does the media not ask "what do you think will be the consequences of such an action?" Surely if the candidate is making the statement he, or she, has thought about what will happen if he or she were to follow through on such a statement. If the candidate is relying on his or her own analysis, let him or her say so and at least bear the consequences on his or her own shoulders should his or her assumption of the consequences prove wrong. If the candidate is relying on a study by some think tank or other, let the candidate tell us so that we can know what the think tank expects to be an outcome.

Withdrawing from Iraq will have consequences. Both short term and long term. It is not too difficult to imagine Sunnis, on seeing the withdrawal of the U.S., flooding into Iraq to "restore the natural order" of Sunnis ruling Shiites. It is not too difficult to see that expanding to a larger war involving Iran. It is not too difficult to imagine what that would do to the cost of oil. Even if Iran chose not to get involved, it is not too difficult to see a revitalized Sunni take over of Iraq leading it its use as a terrorist staging area to overthrow the now completely discredited Saud Family in Saudi Arabia (discredited because they have backed the U.S. actions). Leading again to disaster.

From a Candidate's perspective, these are no problem. If the candidate wins the Whitehouse, no matter how disastrous the consequences, the Candidate is assured a pension paid for by the U.S. Taxpayer, and however poorly we are protected as a result of the Candidate's decisions, he or she will be protected by the Secret Service (also paid for by American taxpayers) for the remainder of his or her life.

So, for the candidate, the view can be short term. The consequences are not going to be borne by the candidate, but by we, the people.

Does this mean that a candidate that says "stay the course" is right? No, that candidate needs to be asked also what he or she thinks will happen.

But, for the time being, the costs of staying and trying to win are in the long run much cheaper than the consequences of pulling out.