Army Focus on Counterinsurgency Debated Within

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Tags: politics - iraq

Supporters of George W. Bush can try to ignore these people, but this will be the legacy of the Iraq War. Even if victory does come (an outcome that I do not believe can happen anymore), the real cost to American will be the thousands of Americans who went in harm's way, and who will bear the scars for the rest of their lives.

It's the cycle of Vietnam, all over again. The glory of war, the people shouting in support, the patriotic flags -- then the skepticism, the growing gloom, the uncomfortable shuffling of feet as many people who supported the war turn away to other concerns, ignoring deliberately that their decisions have destroyed thousands of lives for a cause not worthy of those lives -- then the pretending that the whole affair never happened, and an entire subsection of our society is ignored as they bear their scars in pride, proving us unworthy of them.

In the end, there was reconciliation over Vietnam; I can only hope that the same thing happens with Iraq, and a hell of a lot sooner than a decade. There should already be plans and space set aside for an Iraq War Memorial, to hopefully remind us of this simple fact: we forgot the lessons of Vietnam in a generation, hopefully the lessons of Iraq will last longer.

Tags: history, interesting links, politics - iraq

Five years. Five wasted bloody years.

I'd do a review -- but what's the point? At this stage in the game, everybody's made up their mind, pro, con, whatever, and yet, nobody has presented a viable endgame. The Iraqi Study Group gave some positive directions, but that report was essentially ignored. Even President Bush has given up on that, reduced to stating "I was right, regardless of what you all said", and quietly dancing around the fact that in less than a year, it's not his problem anymore, and, that he really has no intention of doing anything decisive to fix what he started.

And this is from an individual who, many people told me rather vehemently, was a great leader, worthy of respect, and that all he needed was a little more time to prove all us cynics and naysayers wrong, and that I should just shut up. (Ahhh, the heady days of the 2004 Presidential Election.)

*sigh*

Tags: politics - iraq

Yes! Such a victory, so great that men and women will be fighting and dying in Iraq against the people you were victorious over for at least another year or two or three!

You would think that "Mission Accomplished" would have taught him something.

Anyway, I want to see what happens after the 'surge' is over, before I'm willing to give credit for anything that the NCA has decided about Iraq. And, I'm still waiting to see if we ever really find out why Admiral Fallon resigned....

But what scares me the most: Stratfor recently sent out an analysis of the five years of conflict in Iraq, and their conclusion is that, while the names have changed, and while there have been strategic psychological advantages (ones that, honestly, I don't see, given the damage done to traditional alliances), after five years of war, there has been at least a partial return to the status quo ante bellum, which gives the best chance for the United States to find a somewhat stable exit solution to the whole situation.

Am I the only one who thinks that, if you've spent thousands of lives and billions of dollars just to get back where you started, you must have made a mistake somewhere?

Tags: politics - iraq

Fallon resigning while under fire over Iran policy

*shakes head*

And Spitzer, just do the right thing and resign. You've got no moral authority now. It's over dude. Unless this is just some sort of smear campaign, your career is over, because you couldn't keep it in your pants. Resign now and retain some sort of dignity.

Tags: politics - general, politics - iraq

Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning

I buy this story, simply because there are already widely confirmed stories of U.S. Army commanders under Rumsfeld downplaying or trying to bury the results of wargames or other studies that indicated the U.S. military wasn't ready for certain type of conflicts. This fits the pattern.

Thing is, I doubt this will make much of a splash. Those who support George W. Bush will ignore this story as irrelevant. Those who think the Iraq war is a disaster won't bother to look at it more closely. This scares the hell out of me because, as of this point, the only value in Iraq is making sure there are no future Iraq's -- and that means trying to be objective enough to learn the right lessons, and then having enough courage to accept and publicize those lessons, even if they are embarrassing to the powers that be. Neither side is willing to do that right now, one because they're protecting their ego and legacy, and the other because they're trying to make political hay out of the situation, and both on the bodies of men and women who were sent into an unworthy cause, without the support they truly deserved.

Tags: politics - iraq

Increasingly, Mr. Bush seems to be racing against the dwindling months of his term. On Saturday, he acknowledged that the war in Iraq would remain unfinished. Success, he said, will require an active American effort “that outlasts my presidency.”

No shit, Sherlock.

Here's my question, the question that will forever go unanswered; if George W. Bush had known that Iraq would have burned the rest of his Presidency, and possibly another decade after that, if he and his policy team would have actually invaded in the first place?

His defenders will say "Yes, of course, it was all worth it, blah blah blah blah blah", and even his detractors will say "Yes he would, because he's an ass, he needs the oil, blah blah blah blah blah" -- but, you know, I'm not so sure about it. I think he might have chosen to do something else. Not because of the pain he would have caused the nation; it's pretty clear to me he doesn't really give a damn about conscience except to what keeps his voting base motivated; and he's pretty much given that up even at this point. (Where is that Constitutional Amendment supporting marriage and banning Abortion, O Great Bush Supporters, hmmmm? Or, rather, where is the loud social haranguing about same?)

So, watching Bush search for his legacy, I can't help but wonder if invading Iraq, contrary to all the theories I've heard swirling around, was simply the act of a man trying to achieve a 'cheap' victory to support his "War on Terror." No more, no less. It wasn't about revenge, or WMD, or oil, or strategic deployment, or psychological exercises; it was the act of somebody looking for another feather in the cap, another trophy to hang on the wall.

We'll never know -- but Iraq may have simply been an exercise in pride by a man who had never been humbled until he discovered that even the President of the United States has limits, and that God doesn't always grant prayers.

Tags: politics - iraq

Offered without comment, except to ask, once again, for people to really think about what we ask our soldiers to do. In particular, quoted from Major Olmsted:

This may be a contradiction of my above call to keep politics out of my death, but I hope not. Sometimes going to war is the right idea. I think we've drawn that line too far in the direction of war rather than peace, but I'm a soldier and I know that sometimes you have to fight if you're to hold onto what you hold dear. But in making that decision, I believe we understate the costs of war; when we make the decision to fight, we make the decision to kill, and that means lives and families destroyed. Mine now falls into that category; the next time the question of war or peace comes up, if you knew me at least you can understand a bit more just what it is you're deciding to do, and whether or not those costs are worth it.

Tags: politics - iraq

( A partial Iraq rant... )

Tags: politics - iraq