Opinion (Diana West): In limbo on Iraq

I find myself in political limbo. I don't agree with the president and I don't agree with his opponents. I'm not convinced by the argument for sending 21,000 additional troops mainly to Baghdad, and I'm downright incensed at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voting along (Democratic) party lines (plus GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska) to declare this same so-called troop surge to be against "the national interest."

The president's argument fails to convince me that the effort required to secure Baghdad, which comes down to American troops quashing sectarian street violence, is worth the price. It's hard to imagine that an increased American presence, which is necessarily temporary, will win more than a pause in the violence, which goes back centuries. But I'm also unconvinced that the mission itself is of strategic value to the United States.

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