Posted on 11/11/2004 12:08:06 AM PST by kattracks
IN the Second Battle of Fallujah, military operations are ahead of schedule. Our casualties have been blessedly light. The terrorists who haven't fled are being killed by the hundreds. Our troops will soon achieve their goal of eliminating Iraq's key safe haven for terrorists.Our Marines and soldiers have carried the ball inside the 10-yard line. The media's response? Move the goalposts.
The legions of pundits ("Will talk for food") now suggest that a win in Fallujah will be meaningless because we failed to kill or capture the terrorist leadership, because some of the thugs ran away and because Fallujah won't resemble Darien, Conn., by next Sunday.
On Tuesday, as our troops handily pierced the defenses terrorists had spent months erecting, The New York Times carried two front-page stories implying that our forces were facing possible defeat. The Times' military analysis was incompetent and just plain wrong. And the photo its editors ran above the fold showed a Marine curled in a ditch under enemy fire.
It wasn't reporting. It was a mix of anti-American propa- ganda and wishful thinking. Al-Jazeera couldn't have done it better. Now that our troops are winning so lopsidedly that it can't be denied, the Times likely will tell us that Fallujah didn't matter, anyway, that our efforts were wasted. Then Seymour Hersh, the New Yorker's greatest living fiction writer, will follow up with a fairy tale called "Failure In Fallujah."
What's really happening?
[snip]
By fleeing without fighting to the death as they promised they would, the terror-masters discredited themselves. After Coalition leaders lost their nerve last April, the terrorists portrayed themselves as having faced down America's military might. This time, they ran away, leaving untrained recruits to take the bullet-train to paradise.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
"Meanwhile, our troops and their Iraqi allies remain engaged in brutal street-fighting. The remarkably low friendly casualty list is bound to grow. But no one need doubt the outcome. Our troops will complete the mission they were given.
"But the media need to stop inventing missions of their own, then blaming our troops for not accomplishing them."
Now for Ramadi.
Ralph Peters = enlightened.
As I recall, that's exactly how the Russians destroyed Napoleon's army in 1812.
Not mention that during the Revolutionary War, one Colonel lost every battle his troops were in, but was considered a success because he would fight, retreat, fight, retreat. He made the ground so expensive that at the end of the day, British commanders wondered if they really had won the day.
Recall predictions from the MSM. Prior to the start of the war last year. Massive casualties expected. 100s of thousands even a million overall. Prior to this attack. Fallujah will be the most intense fighting the US has seen since Vietnam with very high casualties.
We missed our window, it's to hot we can't attack.
Our supply lines are over stretched and we are bogged down.
The Iraqis are conducting a counter offensive; we are taking heavy losses and are bogged down
We don't have control of the Baghdad airport, the Iraqis are fighting us back.
The bloodiest battle will now ensue; the battle for Baghdad.
We still have not won and many Iraqis fear supporting us because we have failed to capture Saddam.
Tikrit is a real hotbed and we are not able to get control of that city.
We still have not caught Uday and Quasai nor many of the other Ba'ath party members.
There is a humanitarian crisis building. No food, water and lack of electricity.
Iraq lacks all required structures to govern or run itself.
There is no government, the transfer of power can't feasibly occur on time.
Morale in the military is low. Soldiers are not reenlisting and there are many problems.
More?
The media focuses on negative. Bad news sells! Especially if you have pictures. Good stories without pictures are placed on the back burner behind mediocre stories with lots of graphic pictures. Example, Abu Gahrib.
If the media is proven wrong they will never harp on that in retrospect. Even though the negative media has got it wrong MOST of the time, people give them their trust on analysis. Especially those who “want” to see it that way.
The media will often shift the bench mark for what success is. What defines terrorists in Iraq? They were found, but the media (CNN and many others) can’t seem to accept the fact that Abu Al Zacarri was in Iraq before the war began with knowledge and agreement of the Iraqi regime. They never mention the MEK compound or a plethora of other things. Chemical weapons have been found and US soldiers were even exposed. But this is now redefined as well. Now we talk of “No substantial amounts of chemical weapons have been found”. Winning the war now has turned to winning the “peace”. Of course in between we had to stop the humanitarian crisis which also was briefed as a failure, hopeless and reckless effort of the US military. Even if we achieve success over the insurgency now, the media will shift to another topic and define Iraq as a doomed failure of “Bush’s” policy and the US military. They will just seize another topic and continue this endless stream of BS where a kernel of fact is surrounded by personal opinion.
Red6
Um, as I recall, they attacked. Then attacked. Then attacked. In fact, it was NAPOLEON who retreated. Oh, and the Russian "retreat" involved the largest battle fought in about five years in Europe, Borodino, which was, by most accounts, a draw.
The Russians followed a deliberate plan of retreat. They even abandoned Moscow.
Yep, I recall it. Do you think we will see a retraction? Never. They will continue to spit their venom and expect us to believe them. They have no legitimacy whatsoever.
Oh, wait a minute. (Flipping through cheatsheets.) Sorry. Wrong war. Here we are.
We're doomed. We're in an impossible quagmire. The Iraqi insurgents...
Um, that was before they attacked. I reiterate: NO army ever won by retreating.
Could this be the end of the P.C. years???
If you go further back.
SDI was just a trick. It was never possible to build. Today THADS, ABL, PATRIOT PAC3 are already operational in part. Fact is, the media practically gives this no coverage because it's not controversial any more. So as we actually have basses in Alaska with missiles to shoot down other missiles in place already, no body cares! Just as no one cares about civil works projects in Iraq (electricity, water, hospitals, schools, roads, bridges).
Nuclear deterrence in Europe is crazy. It will lead to war and can't work. Our large stockpiles of weapons will actually cause the war. Where are all those idiots who squatted in front of US caserns and protested? Where is the media saying "We were full of $hit." It worked as advertised.
Remember the Panama invasion? How we had to hear all the typical "US=Imperialism" stuff? The US just attacked Panama so they can control the strategic canal. The US military withdrew, democracy was established, the canal today is owned and operated by a COMMUNIST CHINA firm (to the best of my knowledge). Where are the protestors? Where is the media?
The PATRIOT is junk and didn't bring down the scuds in 91. Actually the PATRIOT is so good that a Navy F18 was not able to avoid it (He knew he was being engaged) and was shot down 65 meters over Baghdad accidentally. A Tornado didn't even know what was coming and blasted out of the sky. Patriot shot down SEVERAL incoming missiles heading to Kuwait. Some of those in violation of the UN mandate which set maximum range limits on Iraqi missiles (150 Km). Truth is, even in 91 PATRIOT performed exceptionally.
The F15 was deemed a waste of money when it came out. Some politicians quickly seized this topic for their personal political advantage. Today its kill record is actually over 102 to 0. F22 is being ridiculed exactly the same way, with even the same arguments as the F15 was in the 70s.
The M1 was claimed as to expensive and a waste as well. Today after three campaigns, two of them full fledged wars. This tank saw numbers being used that's in the thousands and after thousands of times being hit by mines, shot at with T72s, RPGs, AT3,4 and 5, even Milan there are no more than two soldiers who EVER lost their lives under armor from enemy activity in an M1.
Bad news sells. Controversy sells.
Four thousand dollars on the drum,
For those who’ll volunteer to come
And enlist to fight the foe today,
Over the hills and far away.
O’er the hills, we will attack
Afghanistan and then Iraq;
George Bush commands and we obey,
Over the hills and far away.
When duty calls me, I must go
To stand and face another foe;
But part of me will always stray
Over the hills and far away.
O’er the hills, from sea to land,
Iraq, and then on to Iran;
George Bush commands and we obey,
Over the hills and far away.
If I should fall to fight no more,
As many comrades did before,
Then ask the pipes and drums to play
"Over the hills and far away".
O’er the hills, pro patria,
Iran and then Arabia;
George Bush commands and we obey,
Over the hills and far away.
Then fall in, lads, behind the drum,
With colours blazing like the sun,
Along the road to come what may,
Over the hills and far away.
O’er the hills we will advance,
Through Belgium, Germany, and France;
George Bush commands and we obey,
Over the hills and far away."
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