Posted on 08/28/2006 10:51:04 PM PDT by woofie
Do I have the answer? No. But then, I didn't run for president, and I'm not the Secretary of Defense. If the GOP can't figure out why they've alienated so many on the right, it's because we're not buying the mantra that Islam is a religion of peace, and we're tired of the fact that criminals like al-Sadr are being rewarded with political clout while we look the other way. About a year ago, Cheney stated resolutely that the insurgency was on its last legs - that the increasing murder and mayhem were signs of desperation. It seems he was either blowing smoke up everyone's ass or his intelligence reports were remarkably flawed. Without any meaningful change in strategy, and as long as Iran can continue to fund the Shiite extremists and foment further mayhem (there are plenty of people willing to blow themselves up), this chaos will not cease.
As de Borchgrave wrote today, the reality that the White House doesn't seem to want to admit - at this point - is that the only way to win in Iraq is to remove the cancer next door, Iran. A properly prsecuted war in Iran, however, will require a draft. But, once again, politically, it's unsavory. So, while they accumulate their nuclear weapons and fuel the tumult in Iraq, here we sit, expected to digest the tripe that there's going to be a happy ending to all of this if we just let a couple of avowed mortal enemies come together and sign a piece of paper talking about civil rights and the rule of law.
Operation TORCH was FUBAR because we had a profoundly unprepared military that was slashed to the gills following WW I. We learned quickly and implemented change on the fly, and became the most fierce military machine the world had ever seen, in less than two years following.
Does this guy who wrote "Fiasco" have a political axe to grind? I'm sure he does. But one of the happy accidents of the two party republic is that there's always someone more than willing to point out our mistakes. We need to take of the blinders and use some of that venom hurled at us to our benefit and the benefit of the entire country.
I'd kind of doubt that a plan for reconstruction was made before the end of WWII. Reconstruction of both Germany and Japan took years and years, and we still have troops in both countries.
The another pick-point was "more troops", yet we defeated Saddam in record time with a minimum of casulties, and maintained control of most of the country from the beginning. I doubt that more American troops would have defeated or even worn down the insurgency anytime sooner, they would just have become more IED targets.
Then there is the false issue of "disbanding the army" and other nonsense. The reality is that the balanced solution that is now working, establishing a democratically elected constitutional government, and training a new Iraqi army to defend it, is the only strategy that has and could work against the threat of the low-level insurgency, and this is a result of persistence, and on-the-job lessons that no critic ever even mentioned, much less "presciently predicted" would work.
"Fiasco" is a fraud, as it is not a fiasco by definition or by any sense of the word. Comparisons with the early days of WWII are apt and though we wish we knew everything, and were prepared for every contingency, that didn't and wouldn't happen. This is a situation quite unlike most previous wars, including Vietnam, and so we learned, the hard way. The left has not learned, as they continue to project the kind of politically motivated pessimism aimed at defeating Bush, not the enemies of the United States. Why should they? They are themselves in that camp.
Thus, regardless of Ricks scoring points on specifics and missteps, etc. he misses the big picture, as we have not lost, we are winning the war against the insurgency. Iran's more and more direct involvement may well alter than judgment, but then, that is outright external interference, and not internal insurgency. We are supposed to be able to handle that, using the forces and weapons we have; it is the political will we seem to lack. And the source of that weakness IS the leftist critics in the government that have seized on selected quotes from Ricks book.
I agree with your assessment ....had we not disbanded the Iraq army ...the critics would be bitching about all the Baathists who were in power slitting our throats
We knew that going in. The Democrats were dragged into this war reluctantly, so we should have been ready for them to jump ship as soon as possible. Surely this wasn't news to the Administration.
There is hesitancy to fix a problem because first you have to admit there is a problem. But, if you admit the problem it is used against you politically.
The drawbacks of that are far less dire than letting the problems go on unchecked. We should have stepped forward and fixed things earlier, rather than let them get so far out of hand. Now the Democrats are in an increasingly stronger position to derail the war, because we refused to admit what went wrong.
media and political fallout from disclosure of the problem undermines morale and encourages the enemy. This is news to no one. It is why people were previously shot for treason.
No one's ever been shot for treason for saying how a run could be run better. Not in America, anyway. It's not providing aid and comfort to say how we should be kicking enemy ass more effectively.
This was not a problem before the early 1970's. The modern Democrats and the ultra-liberals who staff the major media have simply chosen to place politics before country. Once they made that decision, it was, and is, and will continue to be possible to find fault with every single detail of anything AND USE IT FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE; something that did not happen in previous wars.
I dunno, Abe Lincoln threw the mayor of Baltimore in prison for not keeping his mouth shut. There have always been people who want to verbally assist the other side, partisanship is nothing new.
Because the liberals have made this decision, all but the shortest military actions become negatives for the Republicans and for the country. This is the "harsh truth" and is the first thing that needs to be "fixed".
That's as much a part of the landscape as the Iraqi desert. We can pretend their bias is not there, or call them on it and hope for some outrage, but we should have been ready for the inevitable. If we had gone in with a better plan, or been willing to admit problems and fix them on the fly, the opposition never would have had the chance. As it is, we let things go for so long, they were able to build up momentum, and they build more every day the war drags on.
No, individual partisanship is not new. What is relatively new is for, not just individuals, but the major media and one of the major parties, to put partisanship before country. You can attempt to rationalize their behavior, but I don't view the behavior of these groups as being supportive of a more effective American response. Quite the opposite. They seek American failure, as long as it results in partisan gain. An American setback in foreign affairs during a Republican administration becomes just one more asset in achieving control of Congress and getting that goverment run health care program passed, or redistributing income through a tax plan and insuring future votes.
No need to don a flame suit as far as I'm concerned.
I have not read the book but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Sorry, I mean I have not read the book but I did just finish watching the "After Words" program from a month ago that nathanbedford provided a link to. Excellent interview.
Every military professional should at least hear what Ricks is saying. My son is a Captain with the 25th ID in Kirkuk (they just arrived) and I sent him the "After Words" link. I hope he has time to watch it.
BTW, I don't think Ricks is all negative on Iraq and, in fact, has some pretty good suggestions, which I'm sure he's picked up from his contacts, for fixing some things in how we are conducting the war.
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