A Response To: "What Hinges on Fallujah"
By George F. Will
Editorial Link Here
My Response:
I find it disheartening to see you making the same observations about our counter-insurgency activities in Iraq as was made in the beginning of the Vietnam War. We are already reducing our victories to body counts, again. And, while we are focusing on one area, another is exploding with violence and insurgency. The answer in Vietnam was more troops. Why? Because we had to be able to address insurgency all over the country, not just city by city. What's the answer going to be here? We half-assed it to begin with for political reasons (forget the question of WHETHER we should have gone, that's moot now) and now we are reduced to putting out fires instead of catching the arsonists.
How conveniently we forget that we weren't supposed to be fighting this fight now in the first place. Victory had been declared. Guess not.
The fallacy of safety at home via belligerence abroad is short-term thinking at its best. While I agree we should take the fight to the enemy, HOW we do that is as important as WHETHER we do it. A good start would be sticking to the original enemy before you go out and make more. Has Osama Bin Forgotten? I say that if OBL can make a video mocking our President and our election, it speaks highly of our ineffectiveness at stopping the broader, global insurgency. While we may not have endured any more attacks inside our borders, the rest of the world has not been so lucky. Do you really think that's because they haven't sent troops to Iraq? And, how many attacks did we suffer inside our borders after the WTC bombing in 1993 when we apparently weren't "too deep in their knickers"?
I ask you, since we will never get an answer from this administration, what objectives must be met for this foray into Iraq to be considered a success? We know there will be no timetable, so what objectives must be met and how will they be measured? Conservatives are very fond of ROI analysis and I'm curious as to what achievements will make this effort worthwhile not just to this administration, but to those of us who have sacrificed? Conversely, when will enough be enough? When will it be ok to say it was a mistake and its time to go home? Will we fill up another granite wall on the mall in Washington D.C.?
Would we not be better served by your column if you asked tough questions that provoked thought as opposed to cheerleading for something you believe in ideologically? Wouldn't your ideology be better served if you helped to force this administration to deal with the realities of their actions so they could at least try to be successful?
If this administration is determined to see their ideology through and they continue to do it on the cheap and without listening to recommendations counter to their politics, then you will be spending a lot of time putting lipstick on a pig that looks remarkably like a pig from the 60's and 70's.
The difference is, this pig's from the conservative republican farm.
By George F. Will
Editorial Link Here
My Response:
I find it disheartening to see you making the same observations about our counter-insurgency activities in Iraq as was made in the beginning of the Vietnam War. We are already reducing our victories to body counts, again. And, while we are focusing on one area, another is exploding with violence and insurgency. The answer in Vietnam was more troops. Why? Because we had to be able to address insurgency all over the country, not just city by city. What's the answer going to be here? We half-assed it to begin with for political reasons (forget the question of WHETHER we should have gone, that's moot now) and now we are reduced to putting out fires instead of catching the arsonists.
How conveniently we forget that we weren't supposed to be fighting this fight now in the first place. Victory had been declared. Guess not.
The fallacy of safety at home via belligerence abroad is short-term thinking at its best. While I agree we should take the fight to the enemy, HOW we do that is as important as WHETHER we do it. A good start would be sticking to the original enemy before you go out and make more. Has Osama Bin Forgotten? I say that if OBL can make a video mocking our President and our election, it speaks highly of our ineffectiveness at stopping the broader, global insurgency. While we may not have endured any more attacks inside our borders, the rest of the world has not been so lucky. Do you really think that's because they haven't sent troops to Iraq? And, how many attacks did we suffer inside our borders after the WTC bombing in 1993 when we apparently weren't "too deep in their knickers"?
I ask you, since we will never get an answer from this administration, what objectives must be met for this foray into Iraq to be considered a success? We know there will be no timetable, so what objectives must be met and how will they be measured? Conservatives are very fond of ROI analysis and I'm curious as to what achievements will make this effort worthwhile not just to this administration, but to those of us who have sacrificed? Conversely, when will enough be enough? When will it be ok to say it was a mistake and its time to go home? Will we fill up another granite wall on the mall in Washington D.C.?
Would we not be better served by your column if you asked tough questions that provoked thought as opposed to cheerleading for something you believe in ideologically? Wouldn't your ideology be better served if you helped to force this administration to deal with the realities of their actions so they could at least try to be successful?
If this administration is determined to see their ideology through and they continue to do it on the cheap and without listening to recommendations counter to their politics, then you will be spending a lot of time putting lipstick on a pig that looks remarkably like a pig from the 60's and 70's.
The difference is, this pig's from the conservative republican farm.
posted by Mike at 1:06 PM
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