You don't think there was an on the ground intelligence weakness? Do you think my post #13 has any validity?
I retain my original reaction to his "second lession". It is a bit adsurd to assume one can gain the trust and access to a potential enemy (country), via. polling it's constituents. As we all know it just don't work that way. I cannot understand why his "second lession" is worded as is. Perhaps it is my problem. No. He wrote in a literal form. Allow me to illustrate by example. How could we obtain say a 75% majority rule from the peoples of Iraq to enter their country as liberators prior to getting access to the masses of people? Now how can we apply his second lession to Iran or lets say North Korea? How do we gain access to the masses of peoples in those countries to see if they want us to invade them?
Perhaps, but the term "intelligence" is being abused.
Bad intelligence would have meant massive American casualties and that just did not happen.
If the 3rd ID has shot through the Fallujah Gap only to find the Iraqi Medina Division had set them up in a rocket box and slaughtered hundreds of Americans, then we could have rightly said there was "a failure in on the ground intelligence."
If Tommy Franks had sent our troops up the Wadi into the teeth of Iraqi ZCU-23 AA guns, then we could have rightly said there was a failure in intelligence.
Throughout the entire defense of the country that is Iraq, in mid 2003, the Iraqi army failed to make a single militarily significant maneuver. That's an amazing achievement by our own armed forces that needs to be applauded and recognized as heroic on any measure.
MY own lessons learned:
1) If you have the chance to convince your opponent to dismantle his most lethal weapon (al-hussain sp? missile), do it, as Bush did without firing a shot in 2002-2003. It will save lives.
2) If you have the chance to lead a capitulation movement against your enemy, as Bush did with success in 2002-2003, do it, it will save lives.
3) If you have the chance to give sanctions time to work, and study your enemies weaknesses in detail, as Bush, Clinton, and Bush did from 1991 - 2003, do it. It will save lives.
4) If you know your opponent can be defeated in 3 weeks, do it, before their neighbor does.