Strategic errors of Monumental Proportions

[MissWaverly]

By Lt. General WILLIAM E. ODOM (US Army Ret.)
Text of testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,18 January 2007
The war has served primarily the interests of Iran and al Qaeda, not American interests.

As long as US forces remained engaged Iraq, not only will the military costs go up, but also the incentives will decline for other states to cooperate with Washington to find a constructive outcome. This includes not only countries contiguous to Iraq but also Russia and key American allies in Europe. In their view, we deserve the pain we are suffering for our arrogance and unilateralism.

Many critics argue that, had the invasion been done "right," such as sending in much larger forces for re-establishing security and government services, the war would have been a success. This argument is not convincing. Such actions might have delayed a civil war but could not have prevented it. Therefore, any military programs or operations having the aim of trying to reverse this reality, insisting that we can now "do it right," need to be treated with the deepest of suspicion. That includes the proposal to sponsor the breakup by creating three successor states. To do so would be to preside over the massive ethnic cleansing operations required for the successor states to be reasonably stable. Ethnic cleansing is happening in spite of the US military in Iraq, but I see no political or moral advantage for the United States to become its advocate. We are already being blamed as its facilitator.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/126/2/

[MissWaverly]

1. here's another paragraph from Odom's testimony

Just for purposes of analysis, let us suppose we had unlimited numbers of US troops to deploy in Iraq. Would that change my assessment? In principle, if two or three million troops were deployed there with the latitude to annihilate all resistance without much attention to collateral civilian casualties and human rights, order might well be temporarily reestablished under a reign of US terror. The problem we would then face is that we would be opposed not only by 26 million Iraqis but also by millions of Arabs and Iranians surrounding Iraq, peoples angered by our treatment of Muslims and Arabs. These outsiders are already involved to some degree in the internal war in Iraq, and any increase of US forces is likely to be exceeded by additional outside support for insurgents.

http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/126/2/

[MissWaverly]

2. more criticism of Bush from retired Generals

Retired Generals Criticize Bush’s Plan for Iraq
1. By JOHN HOLUSHA
A panel of retired generals told a United States Senate committee today that sending 21,500 additional troops to Iraq will do little to solve the underlying political problems in the country.

“Too little and too late,” is the way Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, a former chief of the Central Command, described the effort to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The additional troops are intended to help pacify Baghdad and a restive province, but General Hoar said American leaders had failed to understand the political forces at work in the country. “The solution is political, not military,” he said.

“A fool’s errand,” was the judgment of Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who commanded troops in the first Gulf War. He said other countries had concluded that the effort in Iraq was not succeeding, noting that “our allies are leaving us and will be gone by summer.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/world/middleeast/18cnd-general.html?ei=5090&en=c7f1008646cbfc49&ex=1326776400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

[MissWaverly]

3. Lt. Watada's father just quoted Lincoln at the DC Protest

Ehren Watada's father quoted Lincoln at the anti-war protest, he asked for our support
to curb this war for oil.

“To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men” -
Abraham Lincoln."