[Dialup Llama]

>The most outrageous piece of strategic disinformation released last week was that U.S. forward units were out of food and that restocking would take more than a week.

Heheheh. The Operational Pause, a classic.

[aposiopetic]

If one pierces through the many lies both sides have circulated, the true picture looks like this: The allies have never been truly bogged down.

[Cold Heat]

The author get's it! Nice read.

[TennesseeProfessor]

All last week, the authorities deliberately fed the press and pundits with fake stories of the campaign plan gone wrong

So it was the military's fault that all the media claimed we were losing the war?

[spodefly]

Oh come on ... there is no way that the hyper-intelligent press, led by such luminaries as The New Yorker's Michael Wolff could have been deceived by the Neanderthals in the military. They are much too sophisticated for that. Why just a few moments ago I saw Michael on CNBC recounting the grueling 24 hour plane ride to Doha, and the long hours devoted to wrangling the truth from CentCom ... surely someone as worldly and erudite could not be a victim of a disinformation campaign based on 2500 year old military tactics.

[WOSG]

The 1993 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia after an unsuccessful encounter in Mogadishu (the story told in the movie "Black Hawk Down") is still very much on everyone's mind. Americans are soft and afraid of close encounters: If more than Mogadishu's 19 soldiers are killed, the American public will press for an end to hostilities. After Sept. 11, this it is not so, but that notion has not yet sunken in.

When are these clueless foreigners going to wake up to the fact that we have a New President since 1993??? They keep mis-underestimating W and his strategery!

[montag813]

The best part of all this was Monday's DOW selloff (200+ pts) on this phony data. This gave agile traders a huge opportunity to grab the best stocks at bargain prices before the midweek blastoff which will continue through week's end.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I wrote the following on a different site just this afternoon:

First the media reporters are "embedded" among the troops, guaranteeing they will bond with the soldiers and provide sympathetic stories.

Then the media are duped into telling the world (and the Iraqi's) the war will kick off with a historic bombardment of Apocalyptic proportions, forcing them to dig in while troops sprint to the edge of the enemy Capitol.

Then the ink is barely dry on the press sheets screaming that the troops are dug in for anywhere from 5 to 50 days while supplies and reinforcements are brought in, only to see a MASSIVE assault begin within 24 hours.

President Bush has pulled off the most simple, effective and brilliant Disinformation campaign in modern military history. And the US Media, those beloved idiot Savants, have carried the torch the whole entire way.

Thank you to the 5th Column of America, you Useful Idiots have never served a Republican President so fully or so well. He played you like a finely-tuned Stradavarius.

Not bad for a President whose IQ you so fully disparaged just two short years ago. Go Mr. President! We love ya!!!!!!!!!

[Outraged]

bump

[Cuttnhorse]

It took the Rooskies to figure this out...great read!

[amused]

Rope-a-Dope!

Ping to Retrofire based on earlier discussion.

[XJarhead]

Wow. The author really hit the nail on the head, including the insightful reference to Somalia. The days of us leaving because of a few casualties ended when Bubba left office. What people really should have observed was not the lack of political will of Bubba, but the determination of the rangers who wanted to go back in for payback.

Anyway, this is a great article. The one constant throughout this war is that Franks has always moved before movement was anticipated. The beginning of the air war came before expected. The ground assault came before expected. The attack at Karbala and Al Kut came before expected. And now, the move to Baghdad. He has managed to achieve tactical surprise even after the war was engaged, which is amazing. Truly superior generalship.

[Radix]

I have read 40 posts (including this one)

What a great thread.

Thanks to all.

It feels good to laugh.