In short, Obama has recently declared that "The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops" and he wants them out NOW.
According to the views of Niccolo Machiavelli and what he views the characteristics a priest should possess in regards to war, he states:
“A Prince should not have another objective or thought or take something else for his Art (profession), outside of war and its rules and discipline: Because that is the only art that awaits those who command, and it is of such virtue not only for those born Princes, but many times it brings fortune to private men to rise up to that level.”
“So as to exercise the mind, the Prince ought to read the histories and in those, consider the actions of the excellent (notable) men, to see how they managed the wars, to examine the reasons for their victories and defeats, to be able to know what to avoid and what to copy. And above all to do as the notable man has done. To imitate someone, before his time, who was lauded and glorified, and whose actions and deeds were always held close to him.”
The credit behind this post belongs to Steve Amoia whose blog is http://niccolomachiavelli.worldhistoryblogs.com/. He addresses current events through the eyes of Niccolo Machiavelli (if he blogged). His blog is very professional and addresses some interesting concepts.
The concerns I have of this recent current event and relating them to the words of Niccolo M. is:
- Is Obama trying to achieve a separate objective by removing troops from Iraq than simply promoting peace?
- Has Obama fully examined the reasons why our war has prolonged for so long and is he classifying the entire war as a defeat?
What are your thoughts on this topic?
2 comments:
I'm glad you posted this link! I was actually just wondering if anyone had done a study on this - I'm not sufficiently well-versed in comparative politics to feel like I can give a wise opinion.
And if I recall, Obama got elected partially because he was all against war, right? Now, this is just me in all my naivete, but I feel like Machiavelli had some points - if I was a prince and had sufficient talent, I'd probably stick to those rules - but war is not really Obama's strong point. Excellent speaker, yes. War, meh... We'll see what happens, now that we've moved all of our troops out of Iraq (and apparently back into Afghanistan, who knows). I wish I understood politics beter.
I think that the key to Obama's thinking is just what you said, "THEIR civil war". For some reason he doesn't see it as the responsibility of America and all other free democratic societies to promote freedom through out the world. I know that Iraq isn't exactly the same scale as Nazi German, but doesn't the same principle apply?
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