[Rhodes22-list] Political - 21st Century 'Ernie Pyle"

[Rob Lowe]

Quite clearly historians will be writing about the failures of the Bush war
planners to understand the culture and situation in Iraq.  They already are.
A very good book on the subject is "The Occupation of Iraq:  Winning the
War, Losing the Peace" by Ali A. Allawi, an Iraqi insider who was a
government minister and writes over and over about the missteps and mistakes
that took place both before and after the invasion.   Another book is
"The End of Iraq:  How American Incompetence Created a War Without End".
Many more books and articles along these lines exist.  There are a number of
books (Brad referred to the one by Michael Yon) that describe the incredible
job our soldiers are doing, but soldiers can not win a war without political
leadership, which in missing in this case.  There is still no plan to Win
the War.  Somehow hoping that the Iraqi political leadership will fix the
situation and create a stable democracy is not a plan, it's a prayer that is
domed to failure.  The factions in Iraq want power, not a stable,
powersharing, democracy.  That's our dream, not theirs.

Suggesting I am blowing smoke hardly suffices as a rebuttal of my
statements.  All of what I said is pretty evident if you read the daily
newspaper.  Even General Petraeus, in his last testimony to Congress said
"With this approach, the security achievements of 2007 and early 2008 can
form a foundation for the gradual establishment of sustainable security in
Iraq."  That's what we are reducing to fighting for now?  The gradual
establishment of sustainable security?  That doesn't sound like winning the
war to me.

The military may not see their task as impossible, but what is their task?
Bush keeps talking about "the Mission", but has yet to define what it is
because he doesn't know what it is. The military is worried about the
viability of their forces though.  They are accepting more recruits without
high school degrees (30% now) and recruits accused of and in cases convicted
of crimes.  Sergeants and captains are leaving the Army in record numbers
even though the re-enlistment bonus has been increased a number of times.
Army generals admit they can't put more troops in Afghanistan or anywhere
else for that matter because they just don't have them.  I've actually
wondered if North Korea is going to still up some trouble knowing that the
military would have a difficult time responding.  We do have air power and
all, but would be hard pressed to but enough boots on the ground to respond.
No, Bush has done a great job of mucking things up and is passing the buck
to the next president, because he can't fix the damage that he has done.  -
rob



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herb Parsons" <hparsons at parsonsys.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Political - 21st Century 'Ernie Pyle"


> Really Rob? Historians are going to be writing that? And what do you
> base that assessment on? Do you actually know such an historian, or is
> it just assmption on your part.
>
> Personally, I think your blowing smoke. Virtually all of what you said
> is just junk, with nothing to back it up.
>
> The military doesn't view their task as "impossible", why do you? (If
> you'd like, I'll be more than happy to give you quotes from them)
>