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Thanks for droppin in, Offy...
posted by
saul_relative
on September 13, 2007 at 10:50 AM
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I totally agree, Corbin. The problem is, from inception to the present,
the damned politicians (Rumsfeld, Bush, Wofowitz, Bremer, Wolfowitz, etc.) have been dictating this war and, primarily, against the auspices and advice of the military commanders. The Democrats and Republicans are too busy trying to win in 2008 to even be credible in a situation that involves military planning and actualization. And still, no one is listening to Petraeus or reflecting on the Iraq Commission's suggestions -- that the most important achievement in Iraq will be political, not military. We can go on sending billions of dollars, thousands of troops on rotation, and screaming "democracy" at the top of our politicians' voices, but the salient point is this: none of it matters if you cannot get a cohesive political infrastructure in place that is credible and legitimate in the eyes of majority of Iraqis. And playing "whack-a-mole" (as the pundits are calling it) with the insurgency is a non-winner militarily or politically. We lost our advantage in 2004 amongst the people when we didn't install a better goverment sooner, when Bremer disbanded the military and the police, and we didn't restore the Iraqi infrastructure. All of this gave the insurgency motive and momentum. We'll never get that back and the Shia militias and the Sunni insurgency both know it. So does Petraeus...
posted by
saul_relative
on September 13, 2007 at 10:50 AM
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Amen Corbin...
posted by
Offy
on September 13, 2007 at 6:35 AM
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It never ends, does it???
The Democrats are famous for using the "it's not enough" strategy on political issues........
If the Republicans propose an increase in spending, something which the Democrats would love, they simply can't agree with Republicans or they won't score political points. So, they "disagree" by saying the spending is not enough. However, their problem with that strategy in dealing with Iraq means that they now have to be military experts (which they are not) and they have to obtain presidential powers (which they can't do).
Frankly, It's much better to leave military decisions to the generals.
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on September 13, 2007 at 6:33 AM
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