Since today seems to be Gawk at the Journalistically Incontinent here at BMG, I thought it might be helpful to share the current excited NeoCon assessment about how splendidly the Vietraq “surge” is going: “Friends, Enemies and Spoilers: Two months in, the consequences of the surge,” by Frederick W. Kagan in The Weekly Standard.
It’s actually interesting reading because, in its use of jargon and fancy-sounding military terms, it sounds just like the complicated “Why we are winning in Vietnam” briefings that were offered thick and fast by Democratic political leaders during the Johnson administration. Those turned out to be incredible. Most sensible observers recognize that neocons like Mr. Kagan and publications like TWS have as much credibility as Donald Rumsfeld on Iraqi WMD in 2003, or Robert Macnamara on Vietnam in 1965.
The political result of the lies told in the 1960s, and our subsequent defeat in Vietnam, was that Democrats were deemed weak and incompetent on defense matters by the public for a generation. The same result is likely to be the fate of the Republicans when this fiasco finally ends and the last Blackwater mercenary is airlifted by a Marine helicopter from an oil derrick somewhere.
The new effort to establish security in Iraq has begun. At this early stage, the most important positive development is a rise in hostility to al Qaeda in the Sunni community. Al Qaeda has responded with its own “surge” in spectacular attacks, which so far has not revived support for the terrorists or reignited sectarian violence. The Coalition has also made unexpectedly rapid progress in reducing the power of Moktada al-Sadr, including killing or capturing more than 700 members of his Mahdi Army. At the same time, the rhetoric of the Iraqi government has changed dramatically, and there are early indications of an increased willingness to attempt reconciliation among Iraq’s Arabs. Meanwhile, some challenges are intensifying. Diyala province in particular poses serious problems that do not admit of easy or rapid solutions. On balance, there is reason for wary optimism.
It’s worth reading, however banal, so you can save yourself listening to Bill O’Reilly make the same points next week.
Al-Masri has been killed by Sunni tribal leaders. The surge is working, it’s smoking out al-Qaeda in Iraq and allowing the Iraqi’s to take care of their own problems.
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We as a nation have a 15 second attention span, that is where our problem in Iraq lies, it is at home.
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Were mistakes made? Yes, but they are made in every war. It’s just today there are thousands of journalists there to pounce on those mistakes, in days gone by that would have been considered border-line tresonous. Today, not so much.
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We are still in Germany and Japan, and WWII ended over 60 years ago. We are still in North Korea and open hostilities ended over 50 years ago.
ABC News – Breaking: SOURCES TELL ABC NEWS THAT REPORTS OF THE DEATH OF HAMZA AL MASRI, LEADER OF AL QAEDA IN IRAQ, ARE UNCONFIRMED AND PART OF A MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN. DEVELOPING…
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Wait … we’re occupying Germany, Japan and North Korea? No wonder our military is stretched so thin.
…China occupies North Korea.
…I guess I should be entertained at the kabuki dance between US-controlled South Korea, and the PRC-controlled North Korea, but it is getting boring. The PRC doesn’t want NK to get out of line, because it would be bad for business.
A missinformation campaign? You don’t say.
On the morning of the 4th anniversary of the Mission Accomplished fiasco someone leaks unconfirmed reports about al Qaeda. Shocking…
…apparently you are going to tell us why the “insurgency” was not stemmed by the death of Zawahiri about a year ago. You know who he was, of course.
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You guys are pathetic.
This ignores the biggest mistake – being there in the first place because of fraudulent reasons!
John Stewart characterized the “surge” as more of a blip in that interview by Moyers posted here the other day. ANyone know the reality behind the numbers? is “surge” snappy but hollow sound bite?