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Date Posted: Tue, February 08 2005, 23:35:42
Author: Larry Lusk
Author Host/IP: 66.214.61.187
Subject: Thoughts on the Iraqi election.

I have made my feelings very clear about how big a mistake I think it was for us to invade Iraq. I have also tried to indicate (and done a poor job at it) that the type of micro management of the war that our Administration has used is so similar to the way things were managed in Vietnam that it seems like they got hold of an old script. In both wars this has cost both lives and lost opportunities. At least the elder Bush let his commanders in the field run the war and did everything he could to get our men what they needed. Politics still played a big role at the end but that’s just the way it always seems to go.

That said let no one mistake that I am 100% behind our troops. I know what it is to be a grunt in the field. Any time I hear or read anything that might make their job harder or more dangerous I will come to their defense every time and in this sense Generals (and the C in C) be damned. They are not the ones who are out risking their lives every second of every day. For this reason I want our troops to get out of an area or situation of unreasonable danger as soon as possible. This is the reason I hope that the Iraqi election succeeds and brings at least some stability to that place of unreasonable danger. If there is a choice between Democracy in Iraq and the safety of our troops I will pick our troops every time. I think Democracy is a great thing and if we can have both then I’m all for it. But if our Administration and our General Staff have misjudged things again and as a result we continue to lose troops in a (then) hopeless effort you have yet to see me really angry.

Thus I hope with all my heart that this election accomplishes at least most of what it is hoped to accomplish. If it doesn’t then to save face our President will keep on trying to “win” even when a fool can see that you gave it your best shot and no matter how much you want it to be different, what you want to happen just isn’t going to in this time and place. Our troops will continue to follow the orders of their C in C because that is the oath they swore and is their duty and obligation. And they will continue to die as a result.

You could say that this is “defeatist thinking” but I ask you, no matter how just the cause or how noble the reason, how many lives is that ideal of Democracy worth if it isn’t going to happen. Vietnam should have taught us that you can win all the battles but still lose the war. Should, despite all our efforts, in the months ahead the situation not improve in Iraq we should pull out and save what we can. Our honored dead will be no less the hero’s they already are and the ideal they fought for will still shine as bright as ever. There will be other times and other places for us to make our stand. If this is what we are forced to do then we should do it with the understanding that the reason for failure has nothing to do with the skill and dedication of our Armed Services or the goal they were trying to help the Iraqi’s to attain. It will lie in the poor planning by our leaders and the complicated religious politics of that part of the world.

Mark my words, we will need that skill and dedication in the years to come. Our world has become in some ways a more dangerous place than it was during “our” time during the Cold War. Let us hope that if Iraq is not the “right time and place” that we will see this and give our fighting men and women the chance to regroup and renew before we are forced to pick a place for a new “stand”. Iraq is just one battle in a much larger struggle. If North Vietnam could lose every battle but still win then if it is necessary we can “lose” this single battle and still be as strong or stronger when it is time for our next battle. I’m not sure who if indeed anyone can be credited with saying this but if you plan for all contingencies then you will never be left without a plan.

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