Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Sir Walter Scott
We say with all confidence we don’t
need any American or western intervention.
Ahmad al-Kinani, Shia militia
My opposition to deploying American combat troops to fight ISIS is too well-known to rehearse, but the preceding quote from a Shia militiaman points toward a benefit of staying out that I hadn’t considered: Pride — the pride of fighting for their own country, for their own freedom, for their own self-determination. Surely, Iraqis can be trusted to protect their country more jealously in the future than they have in the past.