Check out the latest winner from Will Marshall, you're sure to be taken aback.
DLC | Blueprint Magazine | January 8, 2004
Stay and Win in IraqBy Will Marshall
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252289&kaid=450004&subid=900021Are Dennis Kucinich and Donald Rumsfeld secret allies? You'd think the Democrats' most vocal peacenik and the GOP warlord would have little in common, but both seem to be in a hurry to get U.S. troops out of Iraq. Even with Saddam Hussein in the bag and awaiting trial, that's a bad idea.
<SNIP>
The escalating violence prompted facile and mostly misleading analogies between Iraq and Vietnam. But in one respect, the comparison is apt: The United States is once again waging a classic counterinsurgency campaign in a country whose culture seems worlds apart from ours.
Like it or not, America is back in the business of winning hearts and minds.<SNIP>
In fact, the coalition needs more of everything in Iraq: more light infantry, more bureaucrats, more reconstruction workers, more civil affairs officers, more linguists, and more intelligence agents. The most plausible way to meet these needs is to internationalize Iraq's reconstruction, so that we can tap the resources of other countries that have more experience in nation-building than we do. Instead, the administration is counting on Iraqis -- just emerging from a quarter-century of totalitarian terror -- to quickly do the job themselves.
<SNIP>
The administration has rightly made the democratic transformation of the greater Middle East the grand American project of the 21st century. That job starts in Iraq. If we fail here, our hopes for liberalizing the region will be stillborn. To create a stable, representative government in Baghdad, we need to show total commitment to quelling a motley insurgency that includes remnants of Saddam's security and intelligence services, disgruntled Sunnis, and foreign jihadists. Yet the timing of the administration's troop cuts seems dictated by the campaign calendar, not strategy.
<MORE AT THE ABOVE LINK>
A few points (see the areas in bold)
First, we know how the "winning of hearts and minds" went in past conflicts. It's basically a strategy of, "Let us buy your loyalty or we will kill you." I seem to remember that phrase thrown around a lot in the Vietnam campaign as well -- you know, the one that Marshall says has no resemblance to the current situation in Iraq.
Secondly, why in the f*** is he calling for more light infantry? I certainly hope he's not planning to use them for street patrols -- because doing so only demonstrates his complete and utter ignorance surrounding the roles of military forces. Infantry are meant for directly engaging enemy troops -- PERIOD. Any attempt to use them for policemen will result only in additional casualties to US forces due to their exposure to militants during patrols, followed by reprisal raids on said militants that will inevitably kill more civilians and strengthen the armed resistance. While he's at it, why doesn't he call for bringing in more M1 Abrams tanks to patrol the streets of Baghdad due to the lack of patrol cars? :wtf:
Thirdly, the endorsement of the PNAC campaign to "bring democracy at the point of a gun" to the Middle East is just beyond the pale. I would guess that while completely denigrating the views of those darned "leftists" who vehemently opposed this imperial invasion and occupation, Mr. Marshall will also be crying foul if those same leftists don't automatically pledge their allegiance to a candidate who endorses these aims. Simply amazing.
BTW-- thanks to Iverson for finding this and putting in on another thread. I just thought it deserved its own. Enjoy.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
