January 15, 2005, Always fighting the last war...
This week's visit to Pravda gives us this analysis David Galland of Defense Watch called Insurgency 101, Misunderstood, or some of the things I have been saying about why our current strategy in Iraq is doomed. In short-- what matters not are Rummy's "metrics" to show a dim-witted President (and largely apathetic public) that "we are winning" because we have captured... 2/3. 3/4, 99% or whatever of "insurgent leadership" (excepting, oh, Zarqawi, or bin Laden, or, you know, anyone whose names the public knows). What matters is winning hearts and minds.
The fact is, having done such a piss-poor job of protecting the Iraqi people from the insurgency to date (blowing a window of opportunity to do so by again pursuing Saddam and the playing cards, instead of shoring up the place... again--"the metrics"), our only option now is to turn over this fiasco to the Iraqis ASAP-- and get out. The elections, of course, where, thanks to the success of our efforts, will be unavailable in large swathes of the country, will be no panacea.
But they may be the best excuse we have to quickly assemble an Iraqi government with some legitimacy, and get it to deal with the mess we have created vis a vis the insurgents. Otherwise, more of the same will only end when we decide to end it (commencing around 4 years and 5 days from now I would guess). Yes, John Kerry should not have been talking nonsense like "our allies", or "I will train Iraqis faster" and should have been in the context of "I will bring the boys and girls home..." PERIOD. Water under the bridge now. Bush will commence the drawdown right after the elections. (If not, I'll be somewhat disappointed, though not that surprised; obstinance at the expense of others seems imprinted in the Bush personality.)
For more fun from our Mesopotamean theme park, check out my comment "Scapegoats of the Empire" over at The American Street.
Salaam Alechim, everybody...
Comments
As always, it's all a question of timing. The inevitable appeals to the various military trials over prisoner abuse will be prolonged enough to wrap up after Bush's second term, conveniently sparing a sitting president exposure regarding classified executive orders on torture do's and don'ts (apparently there were more do's than don'ts). And Bush might risk a military draw down and civil war (okay, the media will call it "factional fighting")following the elections -- but only if the American public can be reliably distracted by the Super Bowl, the Road to the Final Four, baseball spring training camps and who flunks the first round of steroid testing, and maybe some additional Michael Jackson dinky-doo stories. Again, it's all a question of timing.
Posted by Miss Authoritiva at January 16, 2005 1:32 AM
"Insurgents!"
How is it possible that this country is so blindly apathetic to the spun rhetoric of this administration and it's policies?
An "insurgent" is not a resident of a soveriegn nation that was invaded for bogus at best reasons. Citizens of that nation are merely protecting themselves and thier country from invading forces.
If we were describing Americans fighting off invaders on our own territory, we would call those brave men and women...heroes!
Guess what America, that is what the people of Iraq call the people we label as "insurgents."
Wake up people!
Don't tell me that you all have been "left behind?"
Posted by gary at January 18, 2005 7:12 PM