Resolve
- Posted by Beth on October 14th, 2006 filed in General, Iraq, Support the Troops, The War
Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.*
In another Iraq post at Hot Air, Allah writes, in referring to a post at Right Wing Nut House:
Moran thinks the Baker Commission is a set-up to pressure Bush into pulling out and that failure in Iraq is wholly attributable to a failure of American will. Really? The will was there in 2003. What happened?
Well, I’m just gonna come out and say it. Shouldn’t we be asking those of you who have lost your will “what happened?” ‘Cause it’s y’all who seem to have lost your will. I see it every day at Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, and other sites from former “believers.” It’s like yet another few voices in the chorus of doom with which we’ve all been bombarded (thanks, drive-by media!) in the last three years. People who once had will just keep peeling away, one by one–slowly, but it’s having an effect (the ominous–and unfarkingnecessary–presence of James Baker would be a prime example of the effect).
Rick also says in the referenced post:
It has become clear in the last few months that our democracy experiment in Iraq was in more trouble from defeatists and political opponents at home than it was from either al-Qaeda or the insurgency.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but my jaw farking dropped upon reading that sentence. Does he not read his own blog? Is it only causing trouble for the war if it comes from a lefty?
So you guys tell us. What happened? Too much toxic exposure to the drone of knee-jerk “antiwar” (LOL) “liberal” (LOL!!!) agitprop? Were those who once were believers but aren’t now, not such believers to begin with? Were the reasons for going to Iraq not really given as much thought as they deserved?
See, my faith in the cause has never wavered; not for a minute. I don’t care a whit when people (who frankly don’t get it) say I’m just a Bushbot or “brainwashed” or “get all my news from Fox,” because I am a true believer and I don’t need political spin to help me know what’s right or wrong. Yes, I’m tired of the war–who on earth wouldn’t be? I’ll go out on a limb and say with certainty that the men and women who are actually there are way, WAY more tired of it, but thankfully, they don’t lose their will or their intestinal fortitude. Of course they want the war to be over. So do Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, the whole lot of them–and I guarantee it’s not because they’re worried about not being re-elected. And God knows the Iraqi people want peace in Iraq.
Am I going to sit here and say “everything is just great over there?” Hell no. IT’S A WAR. But the truth is that despite our vast military superiority, our hands are tied. Yes, as Rick Moran said, it is a failure of American will. I say that failure is because either one is genuinely a pacifist (idiot), a soulless partisan, or never understood the reality of war in general, much less the reality of this one specifically. I submit that those who have lost their resolve may well have been the actual “Bushbots” in the first stages of the war, blindly supporting the war because it seemed like the right thing to do. (Of course, I think it’s infinitely preferable to being a knee-jerk partisan on the other side, but I digress.) Now the drone of the ghouls has penetrated their psyche and drained their will to fight, despite the plainitively obvious reasons to continue. I think some may even be unwilling to see the reasons to stay until there is stability in Iraq, because it’s just easier to deny them when your resolve has waned. (How else could you say “bring ‘em home now” if you understand and believe the truth?)
I don’t know. Maybe it’s too much damn teevee, too many video games (bang bang, game over), or being spoiled by the Gulf War in 1991. Maybe the whole country has ADHD, combined with the fact that we’re all far more tuned into what’s going on in the war than ever before. Maybe it’s information overload and impossibly high expectations. Maybe they can tell us.
Feh. Like I said in the last post, I’ve got things to do. Guess I did end up bitching, after all.
Martin says:
Hot Air has become the most aptly-named blog on the intertubes. Allah’s a good writer, who has become totally enamoured of himself, and has rather quickly set himself up as the voice of dissent within the right side.
Rick Moran says:
I think we should separate my feelings about the war - a war I think can still be won - from the utter stupidity and blunderings of the Bush Administration in prosecuting it.
The sad fact is that things are not going well in Iraq - not with 150-200 people a day being slaughtered, with the radical leader al-Sadr in political ascendancy, with death squads and criminal gangs running rampant, with the lag in training the Iraq army, and a slow descent by the government into chaos.
We need more troops - many more. And we need new leadership. Rummy’s rein has run its course.
To blithely continue blind support for this crew of blunderers will end up costing us the war - Baker or no Baker. And if you read the post, you know that I complained that the plan Baker wants to submit brings us 75% of the way to victory - and then forces us to leave before the job is done. My point was why bother? If we’re not in it to win, there’s no point in staying.
Victory has been and is now what I support in Iraq. It’s just that we ain’t getting there from here.
Zendo Deb says:
I’m afraid I just don’t understand all this “hearts and minds” stuff.
We didn’t try to win “the hearts and minds” of Germany in WWII. We bombed Dresden until there were fire-storms and a general lack of oxygen. We dropped 2 atomic bombs on Japan, not because we wanted them to like us, but because we wanted them to surrender unconditionally.
If you look at Germany and Japan today, can you conclude those were bad decsions?
When the Germans set up a comand post in a historic abbey or church, we bombed the hell out of it. Why is it different today?
If they hide in a mosque we blow it up. The ones who are going to hate us, will hate us anyway. And if they get the message that they can’t hide, maybe they won’t - at least not in mosques. And if they do, that was their decision after all.
Beth says:
Deb, I couldn’t agree more. It’s suicidal to conduct war based on the gripes of the tender-hearted.
Rick, I’ll be honest. What makes you so certain it’s “stupid?” Frankly, I’m sick and bloody tired of armchair analysts that have dedicated precisely zero hours of their lives to studying military strategy. Just because one has an opinion doesn’t mean one is automatically an expert, or even qualified to speak. Calling others “stupid” and a “crew of blunderers” offers nothing. NOTHING. And worse, it’s no better than those you yourself criticize on the left.
May I suggest you should read this post again? I suggest that maybe the “blind support” came from people like you in the beginning, not having any real conviction behind it, because you seem to have missed the whole point in being there.
William Teach says:
I think you will truly enjoy this old article from Confusion Road, Beth: http://www.confusionroad.com/article.php?page_function=display_article&nav=archive&subnav=21...
BTW: who’s TODD?
B.Poster says:
Rick is right. We need more troops - many more and Rummy’s reign has run its course. New leadership is needed. I think we can win this and I want to win it. In order to accomplish this, we need an “adapt and win” strategy. We can get the troops we need to accomplish the goals of a democratic and stable Iraq that is allied to the US but the national will seems to be lacking to make the appropiate commitment. Hopefully this will change.
B.Poster says:
Committing more troops to Iraq seems to me to be the optimal solution but the national will to do this right now seems to be lacking. Unfortunately the only way I think this might change in the near term would be if there was a terrorist attack on US soil or on its interests outside of the Middle East that could be traced back to Iraqi militias or to their Iranian allies. No reasonable person wants another terrorist attack on US soil.
In a country such as the US policy makers have the challenge of crafting policies that can achieve the desired objectives that will be supported by the people. If the objective is going to be an allied, stable, and democratic Iraq, this will have to be done without commiting more troops. The US will likely be withdrawing troops in masse from Iraq very soon. Any military engagements with “insurgents” will have to be done through the use of proxies. We have successfully worked through proxies in the past. Hopefully we can do so here.
annika says:
Beth, you’re always inspirational to me. I agree with your post. Even Baker said, it’s not a coice between cut and run or stay the course. We need to win. If it looks like we’re not winning, the incorrect response is to say lets cut and run. The correct response is to say, lets figure out how to win.
Vinnie says:
I love the fucktards who claim to be able to divine the “national will.”
Buncha farking morons. Stuck inside the media/blogosphere bubble.
Why don’t you jackasses get out more often and find out what the “national will” really is.
I work with some die-hard, union, vote only Democrat people who constantly tell me the solution to the problems in the Middle East is to nuke the fuckers.
The “national will” isn’t, and never has been, determined by the seven hundred monkeys typing for seven hundred years, hoping to turn out the works of Sun Tzu.
Gun Toting Liberal says:
Beth, my friend, you correctly noted a few months back that I’ve moved even further to the left lately. As you know, I was all for going into Iraq, and supporting the war… before I got sent there to participate in it. The things I saw that made me move sharply against the war can only be told over a cup of coffee someday… between two friends. Not that I’d ever disclose confidential info, you know I’d never do that; but let’s just say that months and months later, I’m only now beginning to feel “normal” again.
Most of the commenters above have it right - we’re so powerful, so mighty, yet our President refuses to allow us to use that might and power to WIN. He is the first to allow the brave troops to be sold down the river at the first sign of Democratic outrage over events that unfold in every war because of overstressed and tweaked out troops in the midst of gunfire.
And the casualties… the CASUALTIES are mounting… it’s scary if you’ve seen the sheer numbers of them up close and personal like I have. The MSM doesn’t EVEN get to peek at them out of fear of all the horror stories there really are which could be blasted. It’s shocking, disturbing, and unneccesary, and Mrs. GTL can vouch to you that I’m still trying to come to terms with those facts.
President Bush has put politics above the troops and their victory in Iraq, and the troops are not, despite what many would love to believe, all excited about the Bush Administration’s strategy in Iraq. If we’re not going to fight to win, let’s just bring the troops home where they belong.
I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. When a President’s politics outweigh the lives of the troops, THIS former troop will do anything, and everything within the framework of the law to see that President and his allies be FIRED. And this President is guilty of the above - just ask Leiutenant Mario Pantano. Or Lyndie England. ALL have been sold down the river to appease Democrats.
SHAMEFUL behavior… especially when it comes from the so-called “leader of the free world”.
To hell with these people, Beth. TO HELL WITH THEM. If we’re going to be sent to war, send us to win it, damn it. These people gave us the fanciest, most high tech equipment available, then they tell us not to use it until somebody points a rifle at your forehead or you’re going to prison. FARK THAT. THAT is your Bush Administration in action… sad, but TRUE.
And that is exactly why I am glad to be an Honorably Discharged Veteran of the United States military. I’d still be in it if we were “playin’ to win”. But we’re NOT. Don’t fool yourself.
Love ya, buddette. Sorry to plant a “negative” here, but it helped me a bit to vent. Blog ON :-)
Martin says:
GTL
The New York Times/CNN et al and their heroes in the Democratic Party are the reason we can’t fight to win. Whenever something occurs like a civilian getting killed, they rush to summarily convict OUR people, OUR soldiers, in the pages on their Pravda-like rags, who they support unconditionally, of course. Bullshi’ite.
You can’t fight a war against an enemy that hides in civilian populations without killing some civilians. I fault the President for not making that case - the average Joe as Vinnie noted, thinks we should wipe ALL these fuckers off the map. They do not support the childish views of the Howard Deans of the world.
I too work with diehard, labor union guys every day on a construction site. To a man they wear stars and stripes on their hard hats, and there’s a US Marine Corps flag on the back of our tower crane. Do you think those people were offended by pictures of captured terrorists on a leash? I do not farking think so.
I fault our side for not making the case every day that we are up against an enemy we cannot reason with, who wants nothing that we have, except our lives. We must simply keep killing them until the flow slows down. Which it will. Tony Snow, the President, Rumsfeld, all of them should say this every time they face a camera. And challenge the whining left, EVERY TIME, for THEIR plan. Once you unpack the bullshi’ite, the DNC answer is ‘run away and hope they stop hating us’.