The value of human lives is in the balance of the next American Presidential election. Barack Obama has said his foreign policy will bring our troops home from Iraq. John McCain supports an enhanced surge' strategy that requires more personnel stationed and operating in hostile city environments. The counterinsurgency strategy supported by McCain has reduced ground force and civilian casualties by 70 percent.
But this reduction includes the lives of Iraqi citizens. If the U.S. forces were to leave Iraq, there would be zero American military casualties. If Iraqi lives have no value, Obama may have the best foreign policy that includes timetables dictating the removal of our forces from the area.
Since the Iraqis' are still unable to police themselves, many more Iraqi lives will be lost as Syrian and Iranian insurgents pour across the borders to ferment unrest and attempt to force the inhabitants into various secular states lead by leaders similar to Al-Sadr. The peace, now growing across Iraq would plummet into secular wars as militias battle militias, each faction supporting a powerful cleric's ideals and willing to die in order to force those principles upon others.
Indeed, the Iraqi militias currently trained by American forces are supplied by the powerful sheiks of the local areas of operation. While it is proposed that, many of these leaders have stronger ties to Tehran policies than to U.S. policies it is still the goal of our forces to have these factions work together in a non-violent manner. Our military presence is necessary to maintain the order and peaceful dialogue needed to weld the factions together, regardless of the kind of government they choose. Without our presence, the local militias would erupt into a faction-based war similar to what occurred in Lebanon in the 1980s. CNN's Michael Ware described the future of Iraq without US peacekeeping forces to be like a "Lebanon on steroids".
The lives of our forces, spent in a heartrending war that removed a tyrant and attempted to establish peace amongst a divergent and flammable population would also have little value, as many tyrants would fight for supremacy, fostering a new cycle of death and destruction upon the Iraq populace. In retrospect, the loss of American lives prior to our premature departure would have little value, as they would have died for nothing but a lesson in American politics.
Yet many polls decry the presence of Americans in Iraq while others demonstrate the popularity of McCain's approach that avoids a timetabled recall of forces and endorses a long-term allocation of military presence to that troubled region. Barack Obama's change in stance concerning this issue makes our foreign policy less predictable. While he strives for a timetabled departure for our forces, he also seems to be willing to follow recommendations made by the military, which do not recommend any timetabled actions for the withdrawal of forces.
Our policies should be very predictable to the rest of the world. This allows other nations to make decisions concerning our involvement in a predictable manner. The leaders of belligerent and aggressive nations should not expect to sit across a polite peace table to discuss ideals and trade while threatening the lives of our allies.
Both candidates appear to be in agreement with American border protections and immigration issues. Barack Obama has been quite clear in his stand against illegal immigration and decries the parsing of most benefits for persons who have illegally entered our country. John McCain has professed, in the past, that some social benefits be allocated to illegal aliens but has changed his mind on the issue after several town meetings.
Overall, American foreign policy, in my mind, is best served by John McCain. His stances are predictable. He values the lives of Americans who have given all they have in a fight against terrorist aggression. In doing so, he also recognizes the value of life concerning all the inhabitants of the Middle East who have tragically suffered under heavily armed religious extremists and warlord tyrants who kill anyone who disagrees with their dogma.
Our value of life, held to be sacred both within and outside of our borders, and expressed by our foreign policy, represents the most dramatic difference between the two candidates running for our presidential office.
References:
Wikipedia - Lebanese Civil War
Obama Flip Flops by John Stephenson July 3, 2008
Ware on Iraq Pullout, CNN news, March 7, 2008
The Issues: New York Times, July 7, 2008
Analysis, Al-Sadr in Trouble, Iraq Headed for meltdown, CNN, March 27, 2008
FNC's Rove highlights Obama's Flip-Flop on Iraq Troop Withdrawal,
By Brad Wilmouth, March 2, 2008
Sen. McCain and illegal immigration, from Washington Times, Jan 14, 2008
McCain, Obama, in Heated Exchange over Iraq, CNN, Feb 28, 2008