What could have been one of the more brilliant coups of American foreign policy instead turned into an anchor around the neck of the Republican party. While it's easy to blame the MSM for descending on the wreck like vultures, the sad reality is that we handed them the meal on a silver platter.
What would a victory have looked like? Would that mean they'd elect a pro-American government and all of them would love us and all the other nations in the Middle East would suddenly see the error of their ways and become secular democracies that support Israel and the United States? No doubt the war efforts could have been better managed. There are always problems like that in wars. But really, what would better management have gotten us? This thing was a disaster from the word go. If the main goal was to get rid of Saddam Hussein, we succeeded. We're done and we need to get the hell out. If the goal was to scare the bad guys into compliance, win hearts and minds and reshape the Middle East, forget it. We'd need a magic wand for that.
Sorry, Steel Wolf, I can't buy your explanation of events in Iraq. It sounds like it's right out of the AP or DNC talking points. The fact is that having learned the lesson of Viet Nam that more troops equals more targets we used our own brand of blitzkrieg with light, manueverable forces penetrating fast and far while leaving pockets of resistance behind for our re-inforcements to deal with. We knew America's aversion to casualties and were playing against ourselves after the first Gulf War when we set the bar so high by having very few casualties. The Marines did their jobs and took Baghdad in record time. Now is where we supposedly start to make mistakes...not enough troops to maintain order, fix the powerplants and electrical grid, etc. Well you know what? The military's job is to kill people and break things. Now, how were we supposed to know how the Iraqi's would react? They could say, "thank you, America for freeing us" or they could do what they did...listen to the sniping in Washington and wonder which side to choose...America? Al Quida? Suni militia? Shia malitia? If you are forced to choose are you going to side with someone who may or may not be there to help when the going gets rought? If they're listening to the MSM and Dims and watching the polls go toward abandoning them it's no wonder they are reluctant to step up on our side. The Dims and MSM did in Iraq what they did in Viet Nam, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.