noteworthy wrote:
] How much does he think the addition of
] French and German soldiers would have improved things?

Decius wrote:
] That, btw, is a very stupid question.

I disagree, but maybe the question has been taken out of context at this point.

The original question to Kerry was: knowing what you know now, would you still have voted to give the President the authority for war in Iraq?

Among the "things you [we] know now" is that, a year on, we'd still be struggling with an insurgency, with no drawdown in troop strength and no "out" in sight.

Kerry has said that he still would have authorized the war, but as President he would have done things differently. Well, okay, but what might have been the impact of those "different" actions or methods?

] Germany, and Canada are not terribly useful in terms of the
] amount of actual soldiers and military hardware that they
] provide. The equipment and troops they do provide are not
] useless, and the sacrifices made by those men and women should
] be respected as one would respect any soldier's sacrifice.

This is absolutely true, and is worth making explicit.

] But ultimately, it's about money.

This is worth some thought. If Kerry could have "done things differently" and convinced more of Europe to finance the occupation, reconstruction, and counterinsurgency, that would definitely qualify as a Good Thing from a US perspective.

However, more money, or Euros instead of dollars, would not have brought about the defeat of the insurgency or defused the tensions in Iraqi politics. It would have improved the American balance sheet by spreading the pain of the war bill more widely.

But the real pain to the Europeans may well have been far more than just financial. Consider Al Qaeda's response to Spain's involvement. If the French had participated in the war or funded the occupation, it's hard to tell how bin Laden might have responded, but one cannot discount the possibility of a Madrid-style attack in Paris or Berlin. Germans are quite well aware that the 9/11 plot was hatched in Hamburg. Bin Laden has specifically warned the nations of Europe that any involvement will make them the target of attacks.

RE: About That Iraq Vote