Letter: U.S. intervention doomed to fail

Monday, July 11, 2005 | 8:50 a.m.

The July 4 cover of The New Yorker magazine shows Uncle Sam sitting alone, during a birthday party, at a table decorated in red, white and blue. There are settings for other countries, but the chairs are empty. The artist (Barry Blitt) captured the essence of our current national dilemma. With few exceptions, the U.S. has become isolated in the world. It's all because of the ideology of the Bush administration.

We sent and continue to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan solely to make those in Washington feel like they are doing something. And worse, these wars enable the president and his top staff to give the impression that they are the courageous warriors their inflated egos tell them they are.

Right-wingers probably really do want to help spread democracy around the world. They see our culture and our system of government as far superior. After all, it is wealthier, less violent and healthier (although arguments can be made that it is none of these things). They think they can force terrorists to stop fighting. But it just isn't that simple. We should not be naive enough to believe that America is any safer because we kill some terrorists, because they are quickly replaced by other terrorists.

Bush talks about progress in Iraq and Afghanistan. But all that's really happening is that more American troops are getting killed or injured.

We don't understand our enemies, and if we can't get into their heads, we can never defeat them. We send soldiers to control situations and people, yet we do not have the ability to accomplish that. Trying to solve Arab problems with American solutions has a long history of failure, but no one seems to pay any attention.

BARRY E. JACOBS