Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.
By Dennis Sanders | Related entries in NewsThe title of my post comes from a 1978 song by Johnny Mathis and Denice Williams. It could also describe how I feel about the President Bush’s so-called “surge” of American troops in Iraq. And it seems that his plan is not playing well in among the American people either. This is a plan that should have been enacted in 2004 when we still had some control of the situation, but now that Iraq is sprialing into a civil war, the send-more-troops idea is like trying to stop plug dyke with your fingers.
I never supported the invasion to begin with, but I did think we should stay because leaving would create catatrophic results in the region that could in the long run affect America. I still think that leaving Iraq will not be an easy thing to do and could in the long run bite us in the ass. But I also think that we can’t continue remaining in a war that seems to have no end and where there is no visible exit strategy except some vague notions. We can’t allow more men and women to be asked to put their lives on the line when there is no clear objective.
There have been some who say that we haven’t lost as many soldiers in this war as say, World War II. It implies that the American public is somewhat sqeamish about losing so many people. But I don’t think that’s the issue. What the American people like is to be in a winning situation. They are willing to deal with body counts if the objective is met. However, they don’t want to see their sons and daughters sacrificed in a war that seems to have no point. Americans don’t like losing, and they can see this for what it is: a losing situation.
So what can we do? Unlike those on either side, I don’t think there is a perfect idea that will not cost us anything. I think we need to begin to pull out of Iraq, but unlike those on the left that seem to think Iraq will become some kind of peaceful paridise after we leave, we need to do it in a way that makes sure that the mess that is Iraq doesn’t spread to other parts of the region. I don’t know how to achieve this, but I do know it means that we follow Colin Powell’s “Pottery Barn Rule” in that we helped break Iraq and we need to fix it. Since it’s too late to try to cobble a coherent Iraq again, we need to keep the contagion from spreading. Maybe it means having some kind of rapid response force nearby, I don’t know. But we can’t presume things will settle down after the last American has left.
President Bush has again and again seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. While I thought this was a fool’s venture, he and his team could have pulled this off. But there has been so much arrogance and incompetence, that I think we have left the Middle East in a worse position than it was pre-invasion and might have made us more susceptible to a future terror attack. To paraphrase Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel, this whole venture has been the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history and God help us all what consequences this nation will face because of the stupidity of the current Commander in Chief.
After a long break in which he beacme a daddy again (Congrats, Alan!), Alan Stewart Carl shares his views on the “surge.”
Jeremy Dibble over at Charging RINO links to a disturbing report that shows the Bushies might be widening the Iraq War to go after Iran and Syria. Maybe those on the Left are right and we should be calling this an “escalation.”
This entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 12th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
[...] Dennis Sanders at Donklephan on the surge, escalation augmentation. Dennis believes, like I do, that Iraq is most likely lost. He continues to argue that the U.S. needs “to keep the contagion from spreading.” [...]
January 12th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
those on the left that seem to think Iraq will become some kind of peaceful paridise after we leave
link please
January 12th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
NO! You did not get it. This is the end of US empire as we know it. We dont have what it takes to handle terrorism.
I know why we went to Iraq. Our ego was shattered by someone attacking us on 9/11. There was anger. Iraq became an easy target. Poor Iraqis could not resist powerful US forces. I know some say we were invited. But that is just rubbish.
What I read now from the news is that there is native resistance in the form of Sunni, Shiate militia. It just happens that they hate each other also. Even if the Iraq becomes stable after some time, it will never be same again….and neither be US.
January 12th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
For you who do not agree with how to handle Iraq and terrorism nor anything else whatsoever that our top man in the White House wishes to try….be sure not hto ide behind me nor mine (and no whning either) when we start having terrorisom attacks daily in this country.
You can only beat on Bush for another few months and then we’ll get you a duh demo president who will invite the terrorists into America again just like her husband did and we’ll start having same havoc all over again. Aw, gosh, here I go again trying to defend someone who doesn’t need it. Pardon my dust as I exit.
January 13th, 2007 at 1:15 am
You may want to fix the links in the post.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I was watching the history channel last night. It was talking about the WWII Tunisia Campaign. Over 275,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Deutsches Afrika Korps.
Unfortunately, in Iraq, we are the Afrika Korps.
A recurring mistake Hitler kept making was to tell his solders to “stand and die�. He threw away an entire army rather than retreat. It was a stupid move, based more on Hitlers ego that the reality of the situation.
If you are in an untenable situation you retreat, regroup, then attack. Simply standing and dieing is not sensible.
He should have read SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR, and so should bush.
“24. The general who advances without coveting fame
and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only
thought is to protect his country and do good service
for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.�
http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html
January 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Joe Lieberman touched on the real reason this pathetic 15% increase is being offered up. If the Democrats block funding for the surge, they will have to take responsibility for the resulting collapse of Iraq and future devastation of the USA. In other words, never mind that Bush Jr. and the Republicans have created a catastophuck, it will all be the Democrats fault if they block this little nugget.