As I have said on other threads, I was naive enough to think that the internet would not allow the msm to pull what they did in Vietnam. Too many of our citizens hate the America that we love and too many more are too stupid to think for themsleves, getting their worldview from oprah, katie and rosie.
We watched an old John Wayne movie about an airplane that was running out of gas on the way to San Fransico. The plane had two co-pilots, a navigator and a pilot. The Coast Guard was monitoring the flight from another plane and there was a Civil Defence guy standing watch on the shore.
It occurred to me that in those days people were interdependent, there was no technology and we needed each other. Now days, when someone asks, "Are we our brothers' keepers?" "The answer is only if we can help out without getting our hands dirty." The gov't is expected to do the same.
"Now that everyone agrees that the war is lost and Bush is too stubborn to admit it".
Let us join Bush in being stubborn and fighting the defeatist and retreatist mentality. A lot of the war support is dropping in the past 12 months because all the security metrics went in the wrong direction. Things went off track because sectarian violence flared up. But such a trend is not a strategic and final conclusion. It can and should be simply turned around with greater focus on Baghdad security. That is what Bush is proposing to do with the 'surge'.
Does it change the fundamentals? Iraq-on-Iraq violence is going to be around until the political accomodations change. What has poisoned the well is the Mahdi Army influence in the Government, which has made appraochment with Sunnis impossible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/20/AR2007012001446.html?nav=hcmodule
WashPost analysis of Bush's course correction on Iraq lays out some clear points: Bush is looking to find out how to win, not how to withdraw or how to cut losses;
the stability of the Iraq is a possible, worthwhile, and achievable goal and the Iraq Government is geniunely trying to make it happen; Bush was offered a plan by Malaki to pull back from Baghdad and let Iraq troops do it, but they looked seriously at it, found it would not success and the consequence (ie chaos) and concluded it was wrong way to go; Bush has found the alternatives wanting and is going with a plan to secure Baghdad as well as train up the Iraqi forces further.
We have been winning more than losing throughout these 3 to 4 years. Promised elections happened, progress was made to build a Constitution and laws in Iraq are underway. Saddam met his just end. In the end however, the plan A was that we trained up Iraqi security forces, and they would be bolstered by the political unification of Iraq and through that be able to keep the peace. This has not happened due to the Iraqi Govt being to sectarian for the Sunni insurgents, and sectarian conflict has bubbled up.
Further: Political forces that are adamantly hostile to our power projection have an interest in bringing us down. They include Iran and Syria, but there are others in the middle east and of course here at home the Democrats are more interested in bringing Bush down than keeping America up.
To win, it will be hard and take time, but the current plan has 3 elements that are key - security in Baghdad; training and equipping even further the Iraqis; political dialog.
Blogger Frank Warner interviews U.S. Army Capt. Eric Coulson, Commander of A Company, 321 Engineer Battalion, based in Ar Ramadi, al-Anbar Province, Iraq.
“I think there are as many opinions as there are Soldiers. Some are here to do their duty merely as Soldiers; others have a deep belief in the mission. I have no doubts about the need to build a democracy in Iraq, and have no doubt we can be successful given the time and patience to do so.”