Replies

Right. Another dimowit calling Bush an idiot. Not worth responding to. And I'm not going to respond to the gist of this left-propaganda-argument, that Bush and his advisors lack sufficient mental ability to deal with international situations. Rather, I'd like to focus on one sentence and not because this nimrod dimowit wrote it but because it gets repeated a lot, by a lot of dimowits and media echo artists:

One pre-emptive war against the dictator of a desert quasi-state crippled by international sanctions has stretched the American military thin.

For the record:

1. The dictator fell easily. As planned. The war now is with a whole new army of foreign fighters, from all over the Islamic world. Fighting a fairly sophisticated guerrilla campaign in which the use of an entire population as human shields is an extremely potent weapon.

2. Whatever else this engagement is, it's excellent practise for the US military for 21st century style warfare. Whether or not we're "stretched thin" is a debatable point (size of our military being subject to change, 100k not being a large percentage of nearly 300b), but one thing is certain: every time we fight a war we as-a-nation get better at fighting wars. Not only does practise make perfect, but in this case, the practise is worth it.

I am very sad for the losses we are taking. Please don't think I'm callous about our lost soldiers, killed, wounded, kidnapped. But I do believe that this war is an important war on its own merits, and with that in mind, point 2 above should be factored in to the equation.

2. Whatever else this engagement is, it's excellent practise for the US military for 21st century style warfare. Whether or not we're "stretched thin" is a debatable point (size of our military being subject to change, 100k not being a large percentage of nearly 300b), but one thing is certain: every time we fight a war we as-a-nation get better at fighting wars. Not only does practise make perfect, but in this case, the practise is worth it.

This is a profound and excellent point. We must win in Iraq, and we must win these low-intensity guerilla-style anti-terrorism conflicts, because our future will have many more conflicts like it - especially if we fail to win now.

Excellent post, samtheman. It's a keeper. Your analysis of the situation on the ground is spot on. Do these idiots want the "army of foreign fighters, from all over the Islamic world" crashing the gates at the Mall of America, or do they want them in the sands of Iraq?

Right. Another dimowit calling Bush an idiot. Not worth responding to.

This is what I call NewsRap, from the Liberal News Ghetto: "Thump, Thump, Bush is Stoooopid, Bush is Stoooopid, Thump, Thump, Bush is Stoooopid, Bush is Stoooopid, Bush is Stoooopid, etc., etc."

They're not even worth talking to anymore.