Posted on 10/08/2007 7:07:39 AM PDT by Tolik
3-part series:
Third to follow
Last week’s quiet
I just returned to Kuwait, and have been in Iraq visiting forward operating bases in Anbar and Diyala provinces, as well as suburbs of Baghdad the last week, hence the recent silence on this blog given sporadic internet facilities in Iraq. I hope to post a series of observations. But for now here are a few initials impressions from my second visit to the country
...
Better News?
Almost all the Marines and Army units I visited from Ramadi to Taji to various hot spots in Baghdad and Diyala believe there has been a sudden shift in the pulse of battlefield.
...
The U.S. military
The brilliance of U.S. army and marines officers has not been fully appreciated. I met scores with PhDs and MAs, from Majors to Colonels, who are literally all at once trying to defeat al Qaeda gangs and Shiite militias, rebuild government facilities, arbitrate tribal feuds, repair utilities and train Iraqi army and police. As was true of the last trip to Iraq, I am left with three general impressions about the military.
...
The complexity of the effort
The military is pulling out all the stops.
...
they are trying not just to defeat the insurgency, but to literally take Iraq from its primordial past to the twenty-first century within four years. A Herculean Task.
Mythologies
A common slur is that Halliburton is looting the treasury and contractors in Iraq are greedy profiteers. I again found the opposite to be true.
...
First—Some Responses to readers’ postingsAntibodies?
Sent to Iraq?
Asking Questions
A Delicate Balance
Al Qaeda is perverted
Tea for me—or for you?
Who’s the American?
Iranian anger
Define Winning!
A Heck of a Lot of Money
(Excerpt) Read more at victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com ...
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
*
>>...the moral upper crust of American society...<<
What a wonderful phrase in tribute to our military and why we must fight to keep Hillary out of the White House. I can’t think of anything that would be more demoralizing to those young men.
There has, and will continue to be, spirited debate as to which Republican candidate would be best to defeat her. But defeat her we must...
"So the Troops can come home...
"..and vote against Hillary".
Yep. I reread it twice because it captured what is true so nicely.
Soldiers, "upper crust" (with backbone), I like that.
Bump
That turns out to be a problem for agriculture, actually. For a number of reasons a country dependent on an extraction economy seldom seems to develop other means of generating wealth. Of these agriculture has a particularly long development period, slow to build an infrastructure of equipment and funding, quick to have it ruined by government mismanagement (see "Zimbabwe"). Oil wealth wisely invested could be all the pump priming Iraq needs not just for agriculture but for manufacturing, technology, education; oil wealth that is seen as illimitable and sufficient to Iraq's needs forever will be fought over and squandered and the country lose its best opportunity (see "Venezuela"). It could go either way but is up to the Iraqis - we can buy them the opportunity in blood but nothing more than that. That opportunity is a priceless gift. It is also a perishable one.
If you have not been pinged yet Cannoneer and Allegra, you may enjoy this commentary. He (VDH) is just returning from Iraq! I cannot wait to read his final analysis.
Cross-reference:
Victor Davis Hanson: Iraqi Questions [on abrupt turn-around in the once "Triangle of Death"]
NRO Corner ^ | October 09, 2007
Victor Davis Hanson: Hope yet for Iraq? A Changing Iraq. Newfound optimism
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.