The Future of U.S. Involvement in Iraq

Seriously, read this.

"Whatever the military force to be maintained in Iraq, it is clear that it should be local. The American military system has now had three years' trial, and has failed in every point in which failure was prophesied. The officers, hating Iraq, and having no knowledge of native languages or customs, bring our Government into contempt among the people; recruits in the States dread enlistment for service they know not where..."

OK, fine, so I did some substitution of terms. American for English. Iraq for India. But the rest of this was written in 1868 by historian Charles Wentworth Dilke, concluding his work on the British military in India. What haven't we learned?

"Moreover," Dilke continues, "medding in Afghanistan [has] long since proved to be a foolish and dangerous course..."