David Ignatius of the Washington Post was given a tour of Baghdad's heretofor meanest streets, and this is what he found:
As we entered Amiriyah in the late afternoon of a 115-degree August day, the streets were almost deserted. When the cleanup began, the area was cordoned off and then searched house to house by U.S. and Iraqi troops. People live behind their gates; through the metal fences, you can see well-tended gardens, despite the trash in the alleys. Surprisingly, perhaps, there was little resistance. People were fed up. In the two weeks since the crackdown began, there has been a 44 percent decline in violent attacks compared with the previous month and an 83 percent drop in murders.
As our convoy of armored Humvees rumbled down Amal al-Shaabi Street, we approached a little store selling toys and knickknacks. Abizaid, a Lebanese American who speaks Arabic well, bounded out of his vehicle and began conversing with the owner, a man named Firas. The shopkeeper seemed amused to meet an American general who asked in Arabic, "How's it going?" His message to Abizaid was repeated many times by others during the afternoon: Sunnis here are glad to see the Americans restore order; they tolerate the Iraqi army, but they distrust the Iraqi police; they want basic services such as water and electricity. As for Maliki's government, "It doesn't do anything," the owner of an ice cream parlor called Afna told Abizaid.
We stopped a few minutes later at Abbas Mosque, a small Sunni shrine. Sheik Khaled Mohammed al-Ubaidi, dressed in a knitted white prayer cap and a long white robe, came out to greet Abizaid. The general asked if security had improved and the sheik answered: "Thank God, yes!" Now that U.S. forces are going after Shiite death squads, he said, Sunnis here "understand the Americans are serious about the rule of law." (In the past three weeks, the U.S. military has killed about 25 death squad leaders and captured more than 200, according to Thurman.)
This is, after all, the United States military - the finest fighting force the world has ever seen. Can anyone doubt that they will come up with the correct plan and have the will and skill to carry it out? The only thing which could cost us victory in this War on Terrorism is our own weakness here at home - our troops are staunch, but are we?
Posted by Mark Noonan at August 26, 2006 01:34 AM
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True, the finest fighting force the world has ever seen. We also have the finest universities the world has ever seen, as well as the finest farms, advertising industry, grocery stores, golf courses, home building industry, computers, and social infrastructure.
"Can anyone doubt that they will come up with the correct plan and have the will and skill to carry it out?"
Yes - most of the country now believes this war is 'unwinnable' in any trditional sense. That's not the fault of the military. If you think it's winnable, chances are you still think Vietnam was winnable, except the 'cut and run' crowd cut short our eventual victory. (Isn't it good those dominoes didn't actually fall?)
Have you ever noticed that conservatives think every department of the government is useless, except the military, which always performs 'flawlessly' or 'magnificantly?'
How is it that we (as a people and government) are woefully incompetent in all areas, except this one - where we are brilliant?
Posted by: Doubting Thomas at August 26, 2006 11:03 AM
This garbage came from the WP?
Posted by: Tina at August 26, 2006 11:12 AM
(Isn't it good those dominoes didn't actually fall?)
DT, I doubt that the 2-3 million Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who were slaughtered in the aftermath of our betrayal and forced into "reeducation camps" thought it was good.
Posted by: Retired Spook at August 26, 2006 11:55 AM
DT - The slaughter Spook has mentioned is powerful evidence of why we should NOT cut and run in Iraq. In fact, before we left, the "cut and run" crowd of the day predicted that there would be no bloodbath, and they were dead wrong. So if you want to see more dead Iraqis than ever, and respect for the U.S. to hit new lows, then yes, let's get out.
Sadly, our enemies understand the lesson of Vietnam better than we do. They know that the way to defeat the U.S. is to make us weary and wear out our will to fight, since they cannot defeat us on the battlefield. There is only one kind of battle that is unwinnable for the U.S. military, and that is when we as a nation give up.
You complain that conservatives think all government departments are useless except for the military. This alleged attitude of ours (yes, I'm one myself) has a converse on the left. They seem to think that EVERY problem MUST have a solution from some department of government, but that war never solves anything (although many of them seem to have made an exception for Clinton's war against Serbia). In other words, lefties appear to believe that every part of government is supremely competent, EXCEPT for the military.
What we righties really believe is that government, like society in general, is made of fallible, imperfect human beings, and yes, this even includes the military. Because of this fact, we also believe first that the power of government should be limited (for the military, this means putting them under civilian control), and second that government solutions don't always work and can sometimes (like Jimmy Carter's gas price controls) make things worse. This doesn't mean government is useless, just human.
Posted by: Bigfoot at August 26, 2006 02:29 PM
Posted by: Kahn at August 26, 2006 04:51 PM
Posted by: Kahn at August 26, 2006 04:52 PM
"Sunnis here are glad to see the Americans restore order; they tolerate the Iraqi army, but they distrust the Iraqi police; they want basic services such as water and electricity. As for Maliki's government, "It doesn't do anything," the owner of an ice cream parlor called Afna told Abizaid."
So much for the steadily improving Iraqi government.
Will the military come up with the right plan and carry it out?
Why should they?
The military's job is war. It exists to kill America's enemies. It is not a construction agency, a State department, or a police force. Pushing all these duties onto its shoulders may be part of the problem.
Posted by: The Small Town hick at August 26, 2006 06:51 PM
Yes, very well said, Bigfoot! Good job!
Posted by: Freedom1 at August 26, 2006 07:31 PM
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True, the finest fighting force the world has ever seen. We also have the finest universities the world has ever seen, as well as the finest farms, advertising industry, grocery stores, golf courses, home building industry, computers, and social infrastructure.
"Can anyone doubt that they will come up with the correct plan and have the will and skill to carry it out?"
Yes - most of the country now believes this war is 'unwinnable' in any trditional sense. That's not the fault of the military. If you think it's winnable, chances are you still think Vietnam was winnable, except the 'cut and run' crowd cut short our eventual victory. (Isn't it good those dominoes didn't actually fall?)
Have you ever noticed that conservatives think every department of the government is useless, except the military, which always performs 'flawlessly' or 'magnificantly?'
How is it that we (as a people and government) are woefully incompetent in all areas, except this one - where we are brilliant?
This garbage came from the WP?
(Isn't it good those dominoes didn't actually fall?)
DT, I doubt that the 2-3 million Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who were slaughtered in the aftermath of our betrayal and forced into "reeducation camps" thought it was good.
DT - The slaughter Spook has mentioned is powerful evidence of why we should NOT cut and run in Iraq. In fact, before we left, the "cut and run" crowd of the day predicted that there would be no bloodbath, and they were dead wrong. So if you want to see more dead Iraqis than ever, and respect for the U.S. to hit new lows, then yes, let's get out.
Sadly, our enemies understand the lesson of Vietnam better than we do. They know that the way to defeat the U.S. is to make us weary and wear out our will to fight, since they cannot defeat us on the battlefield. There is only one kind of battle that is unwinnable for the U.S. military, and that is when we as a nation give up.
You complain that conservatives think all government departments are useless except for the military. This alleged attitude of ours (yes, I'm one myself) has a converse on the left. They seem to think that EVERY problem MUST have a solution from some department of government, but that war never solves anything (although many of them seem to have made an exception for Clinton's war against Serbia). In other words, lefties appear to believe that every part of government is supremely competent, EXCEPT for the military.
What we righties really believe is that government, like society in general, is made of fallible, imperfect human beings, and yes, this even includes the military. Because of this fact, we also believe first that the power of government should be limited (for the military, this means putting them under civilian control), and second that government solutions don't always work and can sometimes (like Jimmy Carter's gas price controls) make things worse. This doesn't mean government is useless, just human.
Bigfoot - well said.
Bigfoot - well said.
"Sunnis here are glad to see the Americans restore order; they tolerate the Iraqi army, but they distrust the Iraqi police; they want basic services such as water and electricity. As for Maliki's government, "It doesn't do anything," the owner of an ice cream parlor called Afna told Abizaid."
So much for the steadily improving Iraqi government.
Will the military come up with the right plan and carry it out?
Why should they?
The military's job is war. It exists to kill America's enemies. It is not a construction agency, a State department, or a police force. Pushing all these duties onto its shoulders may be part of the problem.
Yes, very well said, Bigfoot! Good job!