Victor Davis Hanson : Finish It or Forget It

VDH ^ | April 11, 2004 | Victor Davis Hanson

[quidnunc]

This is a War – not terrorism, insurgency, or uprising

For about a year now, a baby-faced grotesque thug, Sadr, dressed up in a cleric's robes and backed by two or three thousand gangsters has held world-wide televised press conferences as he pompously boasted about his promised imposition of Iranian-style theocracy upon 26 million other Iraqis.

Forget that in most municipal elections in the first year of the reconstruction Iraqis had shown not much interest in his crackpot Shiite paradise on earth. Forget that this criminal was not a holy-man at all, but a murderer who shortly after the liberation of Iraq, had systematically put out hits on various rivals. Forget that he was a coward who was a mouse under Saddam's fascist police, and roared as a lion only after the Americans, whom he daily slurred, at the cost of their lives and treasure had freed him and his Chicago-style Costa Nostra. And forget that he was hardly a nationalist, but an Iranian toady who did the bidding of Teheran and wished to ruin southern Iraq in the same manner that his kindred self-appointed mullahs had wrecked Iran.

But do not forget that for some strange reason the most powerful military in the history of civilization was not allowed to move on this latter-day Jugurtha before his venom infected thousands beyond his immediate Mafia. The moment there was good proof in the days following the toppling of Saddam that Sadr had ordered and killed various rival Shiites, he should have been arrested, tried, and, if found guilty, hanged — at a time when the United States military was fresh from victory and still in a combat mode.

There is a lesson in the saga of Sadr here that we really must relearn about this entire war. The United States, because it is militarily powerful and humane in the way that it exercises that force, usually can pretty much do what it wishes in this war against terrorists. In every single engagement since October 2001 it has not merely defeated but obliterated jihadists in Afghanistan and Iraq. The only check on its power has been self induced: out of a misplaced sense of clemency it has often ceased prematurely the punishment it has inflicted on enemies — at Tora Bora, in the Sunni Triangle, during the looting of Baghdad, and now perhaps at Fallujah — and relented to enter into peace parleys, reconciliation, and reconstruction too early.

-snip-

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Right, the Media is really doing a job on anyone that trusts them a bit!

[Victoria Delsoul]

And they are still powerful and influential. :-(

[WOSG]

"were done for! were done for!"

Nothing is out of control, nothing is screwed. Nothing has been blown. Like these media "quagmire" alerts and claims that we have already failed even though this is a work in progress, the handwringing is premature.

Sure things are difficult. we didnt come to Iraq to do something easy.

A week ago we were told the Shiites were rising up.
They werent; they didnt. Some militia overran some police stations, now they went home. In another month, Iraq situation will look quite different.

[bluejean]

"It is a time honored formula of our enemies: ask for a cease fire, we give it to them, they rest and rearm, and come at us again."

The PLO, Hamas, etc. have used this tactic successfully for quite some time now. Israel knows this and continually has to bow to it due to outrageous political pressure, even from the U.S.! Are we about to get our own gutful of it in Iraq? I'm so sick of seeing our government butt-kiss Arabs I could puke.

[William Wallace]

Excellent article. Thanks for the heads-up.

Note the ever-shifting goalposts from the Kerrypologists:

The "worst economy in history" blather was mooted by the highest economic growth during the last twenty quarters.

The "outsourced 3 million jobs" line no longer resonates with jobs on the rise and an unemployment rate similar to that of the "Clinton Boom years."

Now Kerry's trotting out Jimmy Carter's misery index. Sheesh, I thought that was about as passe as Marx's labor theory of value. (Apologies to Marx for the unflattering comparison to the only president who was ever attacked by a rabbit.)

We'll know the economy is roaring on all cylinders when they start recycling the "decade of greed" and "trickle down economics" rhetoric.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL, you're always good with words. Thanks for your insightful reply, William.

[Lady Heron]

But now this war in Iraq, which I support, is going out of control and unless he radically shapes up he will hand us eight years of rat debauchery EXACTLY like his father before him.

The war in Iraq is not going out of control, and we will only loose if people like you do not realize that this is bigger than just Iraq,and loose your resolve.

This was never going to be easy, nation building never is, especially when it effects the governments of Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia directly. These countries are trying to influence the people on the ground in Iraq and will continue to do so. This is their last big chance before elections, so things will get worse, nor will it end after the election (islam demands certain type of government so there will always be forces trying to destroy democracy in Iraq). This is a religious war (sunni islam (Saudi Aruba) against shiite islam(Iran)) as well as a strategic war for those countries. How Iraq shapes out will have lasting impact on those countries. They need to fight now or loose a chance to have any say in how Iraq's government is formed.

Sometimes I wonder what history teachers are teaching kids. It takes more than a year to build a nation and it takes basically us forcing a new way down their throats and staying decades to make sure the lesson took.

[dennisw]

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[dennisw]

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[dennisw]

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[dennisw]

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[foreshadowed at waco]

Great article...I would guess that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz agree with this assessment...would the American people support such an all out war?...I'm not sure...most Americans (including urban New Yorkers where I live) seem to think that Iraq is broadening the war and creating more bin Ladens...wish GW was a better salesman and could articulate a clear case for this strategy.

[teldon30]

truth bump

[Clemenza]

I hate to admit this, but sometimes when observing this conflict I get the urge to say "kill them all and the Lord will sort the good from the bad."

[mercy]

I always respect what you have to say. Believe me, I do not arrive at my assesmant of world political events and situations by listening to the lame stream media. I don't even attend to such outlets.

Do I really need to go into the long long litany of disappointments bush has handed his base? We all know it. It is egregious and his sellouts have wounded not just conservatism but this land.

Now we appear to be attempting nation building in Iraq before we have defeated the military. This is insane. OUR young men are dying because of Bush's nice guy methods. History has given us ample precedent on how to rebuild a nation. ie Japan and Germany. We did not bring down the evil empire of the USSR by getting them to trust us. We crushed them economically.

I have lost all faith in George W Bush. I do not believe he knows what he is doing nor do his advisors. Evidently he is allowing bureaucrats of the same stripe who led us into the historically catastrophic swamp of Viet Nam to make his policy.

Because we hate the demonrats we have to pretend that we love this bumbling privileged son of a bureaucrat who has never served us (conservatives) at all .... let alone well?

I don't buy it.

I want change. Massive change. I will vote for him because I am not a fool. I know the rats and Kerry will be twice as bad. But Bush must change. The consequences of his staying the stupid course he has charted will be awful.

[delacoert]

VDH leaves out some things.

Well, I think you should read the artcile more carefully:

Apparently someone in the present administration thinks by waging war-Lite that it can split the difference with Mr. Kerry and win the election. That is fallacious in terms of military strategy, politics, and morality. We can defeat our enemies only by articulating what we stand for and why we are going to win the war. We have the force and imagination to succeed on the battlefield and the American people will accept sacrifices for victory. But they will—and should—turn on any leader who doesn't fight to win and thereby ensures that we will all pay a far higher price for defeat than we would have for victory.

Hanson is definitely on the record as say who cares what Euroweenies think. I think he is also saying forget the polls, don't worry about being re-elected, just do what is called for.

[TEXOKIE]

bump

[ohioWfan]

But now this war in Iraq, which I support, is going out of control...

You, sir, are completely ignorant of the facts.

Learn them, or shut up.

[ohioWfan]

Ragtime.......this 'mercy' person claims he doesn't get his information about Iraq from the leftist media, but his opinions belie that claim because he's got it all wrong.

Can you please provide him a few links and correct his erroneous (and dire) opinions about what is happening there?

[Victoria Delsoul]

Now we appear to be attempting nation building in Iraq before we have defeated the military. This is insane. OUR young men are dying because of Bush's nice guy methods. History has given us ample precedent on how to rebuild a nation. ie Japan and Germany. We did not bring down the evil empire of the USSR by getting them to trust us. We crushed them economically.

I have lost all faith in George W Bush. I do not believe he knows what he is doing nor do his advisors. Evidently he is allowing bureaucrats of the same stripe who led us into the historically catastrophic swamp of Viet Nam to make his policy.

I'm sorry you feel that way, Mercy. Of course there are big difference between Germany - Japan after WWII and Iraq.

Let's not forget that the occupation of Germany took six years, and there was no resistance in Germany or Japan after their surrender. Germany and Japan recognized and accepted defeat. Their government and military were disseminated. There were curfews in place and people weren't armed. German western culture allowed for a smooth transition to democracy, and it allowed the allied forces such as the US, England, Soviet Union and France to rebuild Germany.