Posted on 09/02/2007 8:53:29 PM PDT by gpapa
I arrived in Baghdad in mid-March to work on electricity issues, just as Gen. David Petraeus returned to Iraq to lead the "surge," of which he is the prime architect. But my sense of identification with the commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq goes beyond that. To most people Petraeus is a four-star general, an experienced combat veteran and the consummate military officer. But when I pass him in a hallway of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, I have to catch myself from blurting, "Good morning, Dr. Petraeus."
Like me, Petraeus has a doctorate in political science, his from Princeton, mine from Northwestern. I see Petraeus as a political scientist and former professor in the department of social science at West Point who just happens to be an Army ranger and general. It's his persona as a scholar that is key to understanding what the surge is and why it seems to be working.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
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MEL’s -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-
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Great article. Thanks for posting.
I sincerely hope General Petraeus’ ideas will continue to work. However, I really think the best overall policy is a matter of “fear.”
By this I mean to make the common Iraqi fear us more than the insurgents so that they don’t want insurgents around because it brings down the wrath of the U.S. military wherever they appear. If an “insurgent” fires a RPG from a mosque, then the mosque and all buildings within a city block are destroyed by us in return. If a main supply route is repeatedly ambushed, then clear to ground level everything in a kill zone to 500 meters on each side of the route.
Stop trying to make war civilized. Taking human life can never be made civilized - that is folly. War has to be made so very terrible that an enemy will never appeal to it. Make it so terrible that the people in the area would turn in their own family members to end it. General Sherman understood this during our own civil war. It was his use of total war that really brought that conflict to an end.
“War is cruelty, there is no use in trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over”
General William T. Sherman, U.S. Army
P.S. What I should have said in summary is that I think a good general is better to be a military historian than a social scientist.
For instance, although I would never question General Hal Moore’s bravery and duty, I do question his conclusions about the Vietnam war, and I don’t like his befriending former North Vietnamese soldiers that were just plain murderers. Although, I must admit they (the North Vietnamese) understood the idea of total war better than our own military did.
Of course that won't stop the "Lose the War" crowd of left wingers from calling him stupid, ignorant, a "yes man" and whatever other denigrations they can come up with.
Just as George Bush, Harvard MBA, is so stupid compared to divinity school and law school dropout Al Gore. (Bush's SAT scores were lower, but once you are *in* college, those don't mean squat).
The best news today is from Lebanon. Few see this regional struggle.
Whoa......
And, what would you say to General Ratko Mladic my good friend?
Dr. Phil managed to work the gratuitous mention of his own educational achievement in very smoothly, and I am not trying to discount his knowledge or the hard work he surely had to do to attain his doctorate, but I’m left wondering why they sent a poli-sci major to fix the electricity. Couldn’t they find an engineer? If my toilet backed up I wouldn’t call a diplomat regardless of his educational background. I’d call a plumber. But that’s just me.
I would say that his cause was not just, therefore he wasn’t waging “total war” but “genocide.” Realistically, the victor gets to write history though.
I have some better Sherman quotes. My question to you is Sherman a war criminal? BTW - To my Southern friends - I, of course, expect you to consider Sherman a war criminal.
“I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“If the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war, and not popularity seeking.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“The scenes on this field would have cured anybody of war.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
The next quote has no relevance, I just like it....
“If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
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