The Iraq Committee: de ja vu Vietnam
As you know, in terms of the situation on the ground, the casualties, and the style of combat, there are very few comparisons at all between Iraq and Vietnam. In Iraq, there is no Ho Chi Minh Trail, no NVA being supplied and refitted from an area off limits to our troops, no foreign sponsor of the size of China and the Soviet Union outfitting our enemies, and no safe haven where the VC can retreat where our troops are not allowed to go. The guerrilla-style insurgency getting supplied from Iran is drastically smaller and less successful than anything our men faced in Vietnam.
Two things, however, are identical to Vietnam: 1) Hollywood and the Political Left are cheering for our side to lose as the New York Times commits treason repeatedly and 2) the committees in Washington are utterly inept. During the Vietnam War, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was a quantitative data analyst and nothing more. He had no background in tactics or strategy at all, but he had been a logistical worker for the Army during World War II. His last assignment before his cabinet post had been the presidency of Ford Motor Company. His civilians were clueless about the nature of war, as I have been reading in the book Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster.
At the present day, the Baker-Hamilton joke is supposed to advise President Bush on the situation in Iraq and come up with solutions for the Middle East using our military assets there. The committee has NO, as in ZERO, ZIP military people on it. Chuck Robb, former Senator of Virginia and Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court Justice and discoverer of the "sundown clause" for affirmative action rulings, are two committee members. With all due respect, they know less about military matters than the average sergeant who just got back from Iraq. I understand the Left's antagonism to military people making military policy, but here is the second punch line: guess how many experts on the Middle East will sit on the committee? NONE, NOT ONE, ZILCH NADA. May God have mercy on this nation. For the record, a tsunami hitting Washington would constitute mercy.
Two things, however, are identical to Vietnam: 1) Hollywood and the Political Left are cheering for our side to lose as the New York Times commits treason repeatedly and 2) the committees in Washington are utterly inept. During the Vietnam War, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was a quantitative data analyst and nothing more. He had no background in tactics or strategy at all, but he had been a logistical worker for the Army during World War II. His last assignment before his cabinet post had been the presidency of Ford Motor Company. His civilians were clueless about the nature of war, as I have been reading in the book Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster.
At the present day, the Baker-Hamilton joke is supposed to advise President Bush on the situation in Iraq and come up with solutions for the Middle East using our military assets there. The committee has NO, as in ZERO, ZIP military people on it. Chuck Robb, former Senator of Virginia and Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court Justice and discoverer of the "sundown clause" for affirmative action rulings, are two committee members. With all due respect, they know less about military matters than the average sergeant who just got back from Iraq. I understand the Left's antagonism to military people making military policy, but here is the second punch line: guess how many experts on the Middle East will sit on the committee? NONE, NOT ONE, ZILCH NADA. May God have mercy on this nation. For the record, a tsunami hitting Washington would constitute mercy.
posted by Bountyhawk at 2:29 PM
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