Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

CNAS conference hits (Part IV): But Lynch surprisingly optimistic on Iraq

Readers of this blog know I am mighty pessimistic about Iraq. I think that Ambassador Crocker’s 2008 observation, that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered have not yet happened, still holds true. So I was surprised to hear Marc Lynch pretty optimistic. He said it was possible that we could see ...

553395_090102_Lynch_Head_Shot2.jpg
553395_090102_Lynch_Head_Shot2.jpg

Readers of this blog know I am mighty pessimistic about Iraq. I think that Ambassador Crocker's 2008 observation, that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered have not yet happened, still holds true.

Readers of this blog know I am mighty pessimistic about Iraq. I think that Ambassador Crocker’s 2008 observation, that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered have not yet happened, still holds true.

So I was surprised to hear Marc Lynch pretty optimistic. He said it was possible that we could see Iraq emerge as a major voice in the Middle East. I don’t see it. But he knows far more about the Arab world than I do.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tag: Iraq

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.