[conservativecorner]

Spot on Victor!!

[RobFromGa]

bump.

[Tax-chick]

A timely reminder of Iraq's glorious military history! "Be afraid, be very afraid ..." /sarcasm

[veronica]

Bump.

[Let's Roll]

Great. As I was reading this, having failed to note the author and publication, I was thinking I should head on over to NRO and see what they had after I finished this piece. I have more than one VDH column saved to my HD.

[SamAdams76]

I'm an optimist by nature but I am a big believer in assuming the worst case scenario - and then improving on it. I think that's why I'm an optimist. Things are never as bad as they could have been so I'm always feeling happy about the way things ultimately turn out.

[CharlesThe Hammer]

As enjoyable as irony is, the likes of Carter,Mandela,Arafat, and other "prizewinners" should not distract us from the coming battle and the governance that must follow.
For the moment, strategic and tactical concerns for the fight can be put aside in favor of a discussion of plans for ruling Iraq. Suffice it to say that victory will be swift or swifter. On to aftermath.
I have read of plans that include:
1. A Governor along the lines of MacArthur's mode in post- war Japan. The temporary protectorate would stabilize the country, refurbish essential institutions in a more democratic mode and pursue the B'aathist War Criminals.
2. Tribunals would prosecute Sadaam and his minions, including any al-Queda or their clones.
3. The difficult establishment of a new government to gradually assume rule and to include previously disenfranchised constituencies, particularly the Shi'ites and Kurds. One plan includes a Parliamentary/constitutional monarchy embracing Hashemite dynastic legitimacy. This would have the advantage of an alliance to Jordan and a sobering effect upon the Saudi usurpers of Mecca.
4. Whatever configuration emerges, the commitment and implentation must be complete and intense, as in the post war scenarios of Germany and Japan. One has only to remember the toxic venom of those two regimes and their resulting transformation, to have retort for our current naysayers-Victory is a potent tonic.

[Kryptonite]

Nice piece bump.

[dennisw]

It's gonna be messy but what choice do we have? Do we want an Iraq that act with impunity like NKorea? This is too much of a threat to the world's oil supply and our own. I see American casualties due to poison gas. I see attacks on American assets overseas. Does AlQaeda have it's act together enough to take out (bomb) an embassy of ours? I give it 33% chance we will have a dirty bomb or gas attack on US soil but the causalities will be low. But still there will be panic.

Move now or be damned. The RATS can easily get into power and then we'll never have a chance to act on this threat. RATS will turn this into a EUro-style castrated nation concerned only with comfort. With GW this is our only window of opportunity.

[Billy_bob_bob]

Worry about the war in Iraq? No worries there. We are going to stomp them so hard the only question is going to be how big of a grease spot will be left in the sand when we are done with them.

No, when I need to experience a low-grade panic attack, all I have to do is read the financial pages for a few minutes. THEN I worry. Boy howdy do I worry. Sheer, gut wrenching, flop-sweat inducing panic. But a couple of "Wall Streets" later and I'm feeling much better, thank you.

(P.S. To mix a "Wall Street" pour Maalox over ice in a tall glass. Add large quantity of gin to taste. Stir.)

[Greybird]

Privately, those in the "Arab Street" are mostly angry at us, the infidel, for preempting what they themselves would like to have done.

This one sentence signifies the insane heights of neoconservatives' self-delusion about this Iraq Crusade -- better than any other I have read.

We will end up smashing Iraq. And it will come back to haunt us, especially when the U.S. taxpayers rightly balk at spending tens of billions annually to put it back together again. And we walk out with a job half-done, again. And we get what happened in 1979 in Iran, again -- doubled and tripled, and fueled by an "Arab street" that is far, far from loathing despots as such.

[Timesink]

When I first saw this headline, I thought it was going to be an article about Freepers peeing their pants over the "metaphysical inevitability" of a Hillary presidency.

[livius]

in the here-and-now morale and élan play a great role in every particular campaign

Great article. Morale is precisely what the left is trying to destroy in this country. I half wish we had begun fighting earlier, before the left had the chance to get their anti-US campaign rolling. It's now in full swing, with all of the residents of the Upper West Side and Hollywood piling on. This is very destructive, and in my opinion, is the only thing that could make us falter.

[TC Rider]

VDH always lays it on the line. Never disappointing.

[Jumper]

Smart bombs accounted for only 9% of the minitions used in the first Gulf War; they accounted for 74% of the damage. Conventional weapons comprised over 90% of those weapons and accouned for about 25% of the total kills/damage. Today, the US Military estimates it will use, in the two days of Gulf War II, 80% more smart bombs/precision guided munitions than in the entire first go-round. The math here is pretty awesome! Pentagon hopes to use a new generation of aircraft without "unveiling". Tactics are much improved in urban combat techniques due to the past 12-months of heavily US-Israeli cooperation on raids in PA held terrority (US Observers with Israeli forces). The State of Arab War will make a worst showing this time around than in '91 or '67!