It’s about time someone said this…
Senator Chuck Hagel, speaking on the President’s “surge” plan:
“We better be damn sure we know what we’re doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder.”
It’s about time someone (read: republicans) took a stand on this. As EKM said in an IM conversation today, “It’s really too bad there were no republicans saying that in 2003.” I am, by no means, qualified to know or comment on whether or not it makes military or strategic sense to send in more troops. I just hope that this debate moves forward and that the governing bodies do the hard work of really determining the best course of action.
…via 28thavenue.net.
FWIW, I think this is a Bad Idea. Iraq is a political problem, not a military one. The best we can do is improve infrastructure, train IA (Iraqi Army) and IP (Iraqi Police), and hope that they begin to stand up on their own.
I don’t see much of that happening. They just don’t have the drive that western culture does. It’s a mafia here – sheiks getting contracts (because they’re the only ones able to provide various services), and they employ other Iraqis, but take a massive cut. On average, they’re disappointed by the situation, but don’t really believe there’s anything they can do to change it. In Salah (If God Will’s It), change will happen – if not, then oh well.
If you look at the historic troop levels, this is the third surge over the course of 4 years, and the net outcome is very similar. What our military presence is doing, is keeping terrorism directed at troops in Iraq instead of civilians in the US, and keeping a relatively stable Iraq. Yes, I believe that if we pulled out, there would be much more violence than there is now.
The problem with the surge, is that the President’s reasoning is that we need to sweep Baghdad and maintain a presence there, which we haven’t done. Unfortunately, that implies that we surge and maintain the new troop levels, which isn’t feasible.
Just my $0.02..
I’m not sure where “hand” came from in the last paragraph.. I meant “stand up on their own”..
Hehe – fixed the typo for you…
It’s good to hear this from you,Tim. This has been said time and time again, but this President (and a good portion of the legislature) is, intentionally or not, so out of touch with reality. It’s quite sad.
Do you have any idea how much time you have left there?
Oh – as an aside, one of my cousins just enlisted in the Army. He’s currently in Basic Training at Fort Sill, OK. He’s the first person in my generation of my family to enlist.
We got extended for “up to 125 days”, so that means sometime in July/August. What’s crazy/frustrating is that the Air Force does 4 month rotations, so we’re going to see at least five AF rotations in the time that we’re here..
Your cousin will likely be here within a year of completing his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) – do you know his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)?
One of my buddies here came up with a very interesting an unfortunately accurate quote:
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In the army of the one-eyed men, the blind man is the general.”
Perhaps this applies to politicians as well..