Cliff Smith
Deseret News, Apr. 1, 2024
“Lieberman, unlike the rest, chose to expend his capital, against his own political self-interest, to win the war, long after the fateful choice to invade had been made.”
A truly great leader is a person who, when in a position to affect important events, makes the right choices and changes things for the better when nobody else is able or willing to do so. This is particularly true if the person sacrifices their own best interests for that greater good. The late Sen. Joe Lieberman was a truly great leader.
While Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, was a man of many accomplishments, what makes him great is that he, nearly single-handedly, saved America and our allies from a catastrophic defeat in Iraq by supporting the so-called “surge” when the political tide was almost overwhelmingly against him. This was done at great personal and political cost, from which he never truly recovered.
Relitigating the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein has limited value. I think even most supporters of that decision would admit that the aftermath proved to be much more difficult than anticipated, with numerous unintended side effects. Conversely, pretending that the Middle East was stable with Hussein in power is a foolish and ahistorical argument. Hussein had instigated two destabilizing wars (with Iran and Kuwait) inside of a decade and would have provoked more if given the chance. Iraq may well have gone the way of Syria or Yemen, or worse. No one knows how historical counterfactuals would have played out.
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