To the Editor:

Nicholas D. Kristof doesn’t feel that he is getting his money’s worth from our investment in Iraqi security because it could be spent on other laudable things. True. But he doesn’t mention the possible benefits of a successful effort in Iraq, among the most important:

Dealing a decisive defeat to radical jihadists; the establishment of a stable pro-Western government in the Arab heart of the Middle East; checking the regional ambitions of Iran; reinforcing America’s reliability as an ally, which will have implications worldwide; and having found a successful template to oppose further efforts to duplicate Al Qaeda’s early success in Iraq.

Yes, security is costly, but so is defeat.

Stanley Renshon
New York, March 23, 2008
The writer is a professor in the Ph.D. program in political science, CUNY Graduate Center.