Winning the War in Iraq

Iraq is winnable, I say.

Bush to Ignore the Iraq Study Group's Principle Recommendations

It is rumored that President Bush will choose to ignore the Iraq Study Group's recommendation to shift the U.S. role there from combat to training Iraqi troops, and instead will "double down" the number of troops in Iraq, siding with military advisors and John McCain. The American armed forces will, it is said, also concentrate on going after Moqtada al Sadr, who commands the rogue Mahdi Army, which is causing so many of the problems in Iraq.

If this is true, I'm partly happy, since this is part of my recommendation.I side with McCain in wanting to increase troop levels, but I think this is useless unless we also change the nature of the war, away from political correctness and towards fighting to win.

Elephant in the Room

In addition, no one is thinking about engaging the real people with whom we are at war, Syria and Iran. These are our enemies. They are the countries that are training, arming, supplying and delivering the insurgents into Iraq. We don’t have enough troops to shut off the borders from infiltration nor supplies from these nations.

Widen the War

Americans are reluctant to widen the war. Many would prefer that we simply withdraw from Iraq. My feeling is that there is no withdrawing from this war.

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We might withdraw from Iraq, but we cannot withdraw from the war on terror, as it is not up to us to determine this. The terrorists have big goals, like dominating the Middle East, and the world, and will not rest until they have won. I prefer that we fight this war now, not later when our casualties will be whole American cities.

I prefer that we widen the war now. I disagree with the notion that we must have "boots on the ground" in every case. Our army is stretched so thin now that sending them to additional countries is not feasible. I suggest instead that we bomb the hell out of Syria and Iran. Yes, I understand the consequences. Iran would shut off its oil and maybe there'd be other oil consequences in the world, so it would devastate our economy for a while. Plus, Syria and Iran would do their best to retaliate, against us and especially against our ally, Israel.

The Only Thing to Fear, Is Fear Itself

In a time of war, a country governed by fear is destined to lose. What are we afraid of anyway? We are already at war with these people. They are trying to kill us. They are working to destroy us. Bombing Iran could stop or deter their nuclear threat. It would certainly help Israel. Israel would be in favor of the idea. It could help us win the war in Iraq.

The world, and liberals, would condemn us for this unprovoked aggression, but what else is new?

As for bombing Syria, they aren't much of a threat, except in the war in Iraq.

The upside outweighs the downside. The biggest strategic threat in the Middle East today is Iran; experts agree on this. Let's decide to win, both the war in Iraq, and the war on terror. Let's take care of this problem now.

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Rock


(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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Technorati Tags: [Iraq], [war], [Middle East]

Afghanistan Perspective

Sgt Dub in Aghanistan

Afghanistan is a vast country of open spaces, mountains and desert, with plenty of caves to hide in. Yesterday I featured one hotspot of the world, Lebanon, and today I will focus on Afghanistan, again with a valued commenter, Sgt Dub, who is serving our nation there at Camp Phoenix. This is Sgt Dub's second trip to the country. He is a police officer and a member of the Oklahoma National Guard. His website,

SGTDUB is a great way to learn first-hand what the daily life of one soldier is like in that war zone.






There are about 19,500 American soldiers in Afghanistan, (see Deployments of the United States Military), following the invasion in 2001 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Around 6,500 other soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force are also deployed in Afghanistan.

The Afghanis

The Afghan People are a diverse group, estimated at 49% Pashtun, 18% Tajik, 9% Hazara, 8% Uzbek, 4% Aimak, 3% Turkmen, and 9% other.

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The CIA fact book on languages spoken in Afghanistan is as follows: Pashto 35%, Persian (Dari) 50%, both Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family. Others include Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 9%, as well as 30 minor languages 4% (primarily Balochi and Pashai and Nuristasni. Bilingualism is common.

Afghan Government

Afghanistan is currently led by President Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October 2004. While supporters have praised Karzai's efforts to promote national reconciliation and a growing economy, critics charge him with failing to rein in the country's warlords, inability to stem corruption and the growing drug trade, and the slow pace of reconstruction. The current parliament was elected in 2005. Among the elected officials were former mujahadeen, Taliban members, communists, reformists, and Islamic fundamentalists. 28% of the delegates elected were women, 3% more than the 25% minimum guaranteed under the constitution. This made Afghanistan, long known under the Taliban for its oppression of women, one of the leading countries in terms of female representation.

The Economy

Afghanistan is an extremely impoverished country, one of the world's poorest and least developed nations. Two-thirds of the population lives on less than US 2 dollars a day. The economy has suffered greatly from the recent political and military unrest since the 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent conflicts, while severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998-2001.

The economically active population in 2002 was about 11 million (out of a total of an estimated 29 million). While there are no official unemployment rate estimates available, it is evident that it is high. The number of non-skilled young people is estimated at 3 million, which is likely to increase by some 300,000 per annum.

As much as one-third of Afghanistan's GDP comes from growing poppy and illicit drugs including opium and its two derivatives, morphine and heroin, as well as hashish production.

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Problems

One problem in Afghanistan is the resurgence of the Taliban.

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Taliban and Allies Tighten Grip in North of Pakistan: New York Times. "THE BORDER with Pakistan has a military base in South Waziristan, an unruly region on the Afghan border that is dominated by local tribes. But one sign of how limited the Pakistani government's reach is here is that soldiers on a United States base nearby say they routinely see Taliban fighters cross the mountains at night." By CARLOTTA GALL and ISMAIL KHAN, Published: December 11, 2006.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan. Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with Al Qaeda and foreign fighters, diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations say. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban mini-state.

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Sgt Dub's Blog

Let's see some of the daily life of one of our nation's finest in Afghanistan. For a complete look at his site and posts, go to: SGTDUB.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2006

I'm a bad blogger. Last Friday, we had a bazaar on camp where we allow local Afghans come onto camp with the goods they sell. DVDs, CDs, fur coats, jewelry, marble chess sets, cups, bowls, old rifles, swords, clothing, everything you could need in a country. Well, I finally went down with my camera and took pictures to share. My only problem is I downloaded them on the office computer and I'm in my room. Now, it's after dark, and my office is almost 100 yds from here, so the inherent danger (I'm just too lazy) is just to great for me to risk, I will just have to remember again tomorrow to get them.

This morning we went to the running track for my morning PT. We did a 2-mile circuit training. With the temperature at 34 degrees and 4 laps around the track, I'm wiped out. The deep cold air hitting the lungs is grueling. Every time I got out of my chair my first 3 steps were a limp. My knees are what they were when I was running cross-country track.

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Overall it was a decent workout. We are suppose to be back out there Wednesday for a run. What's that word I'm looking for?.....yeah.
I told you I skipped Ab Lab Saturday night and avoided one of my LTs. Well, I talked with LT. S the next day and he described how he had got a mat for each of us and then waited in the circle for me to show up. He mentioned people would come up and he would tell them "this spot is saved" and I never showed up. I couldn't help but laugh at the picture I had in my head. I think he got me back today. I had to brief LTC Y and my slides were all messed up. Of course, Y and I go back several years and he thinks this is just par for the course with me. I muddled through it the best I can, and later in the brief, another LT takes his turn to find my good slides on his brief. To which I tell LTC Y, "I found my slides Sir"

Not much else to report today, be safe and have a good day.

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006

Today I got to play in an old Russian tank. Of course, it has long since been in running condition, but none the less, have you been in one. At approximately 5'10 and 240 lbs, it seems that the tank was not built for a man of my size.

In fact, as I was wedging myself into one of the openings, I found myself remember Winnie the Pooh, after having some honey at Rabbit's hole and then he got stuck, where he had to stay until he lost some weight. Well, fortunately, I made it out with no real problems. We had made a trip over to Pol-e-Charki today to service some of our Ford Ranger pickups and had time to waste.

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The service garage is much like the ones back home, (being built by Americans and Europeans does help), but back in the garage you can hear the old heavy rock blaring out to include Hotel California. The garage is supervised by some Russians and all the work is done by Afghans. This took up a good portion of my day.

We had one explosion down the road from our camp last night, the intended target appears to be the police. There are a couple of different reasons and a couple different theories out there. But nobody was hurt and only minor damage to the surrounding buildings. Tomorrow we hit the track for PT. Should be fun, I know I can't wait.....until spring....or summer. Not much else to report so be safe and have a good day.

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2006

Today was another long day. I had more paperwork than usual and it involved contacting several different people. I'm working on acquiring some winter weather clothing and equipment for about 15 people. This was quite an easy task last time I was here, place a phone call, give them the numbers, send someone to sign for it and pick it up and distribute. Today, nobody wants to do it. I have contacted the two people it should go through, both said no problem. Next, I have to submit a form through Supply, he sends it up, they should forward it to the Bde J-4, then they make the call and then I go pick up the stuff. A few more steps but do-able. No, can't go like that. First, supply calls to find out why I want the stuff, so I explain.

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Next, the S-4 calls and wants a letter of justification and some type of documentation stating it's our responsibility. I got as far as sending the documentation, but haven't started on the justification yet. I'm sure it'll get approved by summer.

Next, since I have two Air Force personnel working for me, I have to do evaluations and award packets for them. I started this the same way we do our Army evaluations. Wrong, I have to use different terminology for Air Force and can't use specific bullet comments. So, I head down and talk to the Senior Air Force NCO in charge of my people and he helps me out with what he's looking for.

With such a long day, I headed over to the Self Help shop and finally started working on my desk for my room. I spent about 2 1/2 hours in there and finally stopped for the evening so I could eat dinner and relax for the evening. I may have to be real quiet here in my room for the next 20 minutes as one of my LTs wants me to go to the Ab Lab with him again tonight. I'm not wanting to and I just ate, but they are doing it 3 nights a week so I'll start up on Tuesday.

That's about all the fun I can share with you today. Be safe and have a good day.

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Our Thanks

Thank you, Sgt Dub, for your cogent reporting of the daily life of a soldier in Afghanistan, and for your patriotic service to our nation. Thanks also to all the servicemen serving there, and across the globe.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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A Ray of Hope for Iraq

O
il. The libs may have been so wrong about it that it will make their heads spin like in Regan in The Exorcist. Oil might bring peace and democracy to Iraq.


New Development Brings Hope for Iraq

Paz, one of my bright liberal commenters, will accuse me today of changing my mind again about Iraq, and he may be right this time. In fact, I might be doing one of those cartoon-like double takes because I saw something today in the New York Times, my favorite (not!) balanced (not!) newspaper that, if true, would vindicate the Stay the Coursers on Iraq and put to shame the Cut and Runners.

Iraqis Near Deal on Distribution of Oil Revenues by Population - New York Times By EDWARD WONG, Published: December 9, 2006

BAGHDAD. Iraqi officials are near agreement on a national oil law that would give the central government the power to distribute current and future oil revenues to the provinces or regions, based on their population, Iraqi and American officials say.

If enacted, the measure, drafted by a committee of politicians and ministers, could help resolve a highly divisive issue that has consistently blocked efforts to reconcile the country's feuding ethnic and sectarian factions. Sunni Arabs, who lead the insurgency, have opposed the idea of regional autonomy for fear that they would be deprived of a fair share of the country's oil wealth, which is concentrated in the Shiite south and Kurdish north. The Iraq Study Group report stressed that an oil law guaranteeing an equitable distribution of revenues was crucial to the process of national reconciliation, and thus to ending the war.

If this report is true, then this is a stunning behind the scenes development that could bring about Bush's vision of a united Iraq












with a fairly strong federal government, but with three regional states that guard the interests of the Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. At stake are the fourth largest oil reserves in the world, one of the reasons why the whole world is interested in what happens in the Iraq war.

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Oil for Peace

If you notice this New York Times article, my Dear libs, the United States will not be sharing in the largess from the oil. The oil will be divided between the three Iraqi regions. Read the article to get the details. Yes, of course, American oil companies will get a large portion of the oil contracts for construction and handling of the oil, but this is entirely appropriate, since America paid for this right with its blood. Why should French or Russian companies get anything?

Anyway, the effect of this agreement, if it should happen (and it looks like it will) will mean that the Iraqis will then have a monetary motivation for peace. In order to make money from splitting the oil revenues in three, the new states would benefit from an orderly environment, or no new investment would be forthcoming. This is great news.

It still does not mean that outside forces, like Iran, will not try to get their share of the oil and power, but at least some internal forces in Iraq will be aligned for peace instead of for war. The oil agreement will also not decrease some of the sectarian hatred in Iraq. The Sunnis will still hate the Shias will hate the Kurds, and so on; but they will all be smiling more, because their lives will start to change for the better. They will be able to rebuild their country again, if they choose to do so, and then benefit even more from the oil revenues.

Implications

What does this mean for the U.S., and for Bush? This is major, and the first ray of hope I've seen there in years. This means that democracy does have a chance in Iraq. This means that it might be possible after all to form a strong-enough federal government there. This also means that I possibly have been wrong lately in my pessimism about Iraq, as have 70% of Americans, and that Bush was the smart guy in the room.

I will make a bold prediction. Most of the world, including the New York Times, who wrote the article, and especially the liberals, will under-report this new development, and miss the implications of it for the future of Iraq. Liberals will never admit that democracy could work in Iraq. It's against their religion.

So, go ahead Paz, make my day, tell me I've changed my mind again. I'm glad to do it, in the interest of truth, as always. I'm excited to do it in this case. Tell me you understand the implications of this development, and that you're glad that democracy might come to Iraq—and that Bush was right all along. Sorry, forgot, it's against your religion.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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Were the Democrats Right About Iraq?

Is Iraq like Vietnam?

Iraq, is it Vietnam? Paz, one of my liberal commenters, whom I am grateful to for his passion and commitment to the positions of his side, made some points in a comment yesterday that are worthy of a detailed response in a post. Conservatives have criticized liberals in the past for their positions on Iraq. Yet, it appears that some of us now agree with what liberals said a year ago—namely, that Iraq is similar to Vietnam, and so on.

My opinion is that Iraq was not similar to Vietnam a year ago, but now it is.







The reasons it has become similar are:

1. The Iraqis are not fighting hard enough to win their own freedom.

2. The liberal press has undermined the war effort, and prevented us from fighting to win.

3. We don’t have a President Truman or FDR in office who will ignore political correctness and do what it takes to install democracy in Iraq, using overwhelming force like we did in WWII with Germany and Japan.

Stay the Course

Basically, those of us who welcome the national debate on Iraq being conducted now because of the Iraq Study Group, are presumably pitted against those who are steadfast in their Stay the Course opinion. I don’t see it this way. I am still for Stay the Course, as I always was, except I want more troops and more vicious fighting to effect it. On this, I agree with Senator John McCain, at least on the more troops part of the equation.

I am a pragmatist, though. I don’t see this congress, and this president, and this American public, propagandized by liberals, agreeing with Senator McCain, nor with me. We aren’t going to get more troops in Iraq, and we certainly aren’t going to be allowed to fight the war the way it ought to be fought—the way we fought in World War II.

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Therefore, leaving our troops basically as standing guard in streets that are descending into civil war, in target zones for foreign insurgents, without allowing them to really fight, is cruel and unwise. Do I want to Stay the Course in Iraq? Yes, if we are allowed to Stay the Course and Win. Otherwise, we need to do some kind of pullback, and let the Iraqis kill each other if they choose this way of behaving. In this case, we must still remain in the region, in safer zones, to prevent the complete domination of the Middle East by Iran.

Did We Make Mistakes in Iraq?

Yes. I know some of you are fans of Donald Rumsfeld, and I can agree that the man was courageous in trying to change the nature of our armed forces to meet the challenges of the 21st century. On the other hand, I believe Colin Powell was right in saying we ought either to have not invaded Iraq, or gone in with overwhelming force—including an overwhelming force for the post invasion phase. We simply never had enough troops to deal with any insurgency. We can’t police the borders with Iran and Syria with the numbers we have. We can’t stop trouble spots and then hold them. Our present number of troops could be sufficient if the Iraqis were fighting with us, but they’re not.

Was It a Mistake to Invade Iraq?

No. Saddam Hussein was a villain who needed to go; and he was intent on causing serious trouble for the world. We are better off with him gone, regardless of civil war in Iraq. We just need to be nimble, to adjust to the changing situation there.

Did our American Soldiers Die in Vain?

No. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have altered the worldwide equation for peace in a dramatic fashion. 9/11 has been answered in a way that ensures future terrorists will think hard about an unprovoked major attack on our soil. Terrorists know now that should they drop a nuke on us, for example, we will hunt them down and kill them, and go beyond this—we will take their countries away and send them into the hills and caves.

Plus:

A major villain is off the world stage.
The Iraqis have been given a chance for democracy.
Democracy is at least being considered in other parts of the Middle East.
Libya is no longer a threat.
Renewed efforts at peace for Israel and Palestine are being promoted with a new urgency.

The last reason why our soldiers did not die in vain is that invading Iraq was simply the right and moral thing to do. We stood up to a bully who was killing innocents, and who would kill other innocents in the future. It is never wrong to do the right thing, regardless of consequences.

The Strategic Situation Now

The major threat now is Iran. The failure in Iraq can give Iran an opening to expand its hegemony in the Middle East; or, we can handle this problem wisely. Since we have a base in Iraq, we are still in a good position strategically to keep Iran from overrunning the area. We don’t need to stay in the middle of the Iraq civil war in order to do this; merely being in the area would be enough.

The nuclear question is another matter. I don’t see that there is any worldwide will to stop Iran from getting the bomb, thanks to the liberals’ beloved U.N. Ideally what should we do? Invade Iran and effect regime change, and shut down their nuclear operations. Will we do this? No. Why? Because of the touchy feely liberals in our country, and because of the lack of will in the U.N.

What is for sure, given the present political situation, is that Iran will get the bomb. Then what? I’m not smart enough to say. What do you think?

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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The Iraq Study Group

(God bless all veterans and soldiers now serving, and all America, on this anniversary of Pearl Harbor.)

It's a Good Thing

Baker and The Iraq Study Group has been a good thing, in my opinion, in that it has gotten the United States government and its people thinking about solutions to the Iraq problem.




The Iraq Study Group has gotten all sectors of the world, and of the United States, involved and invested in solving the Iraq conundrum. Most of us don’t understand all the factors involved in this whole mess over there, but we do know that something is wrong, and needs to be fixed. I would argue that no one is wise enough, given all the complexities, to know what is the best thing to do, but the Group made a good effort.

Another good thing about the Iraq Study Group is that Democrats and liberals are again thinking, which is unusual for them. A bad part of the Group is that these same liberals are engaging in their favorite pastime, which is gotcha politics. Many Democrats spend their whole day finding things the evil Republicans have done wrong. They feel vindicated by the Baker Commission Report, (another name for the Iraq Study Group), which basically says that Iraq is a mess, we ought to get out, and we ought to be talking with Syria and Iran.

Syria and Iran love the report. Al-Queda loves the report. The Shias love it. The Sunnis hate it. Saudi Arabia hates it. The bulk of the world loves it.

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Fight to Win or Get Out

Personally, I still remain a neo-con on the war in Iraq. I wish we were waging it all-out, and to win. We aren’t now and never were. We’ve fought a tentative, politically correct war almost the whole time (except for the initial invasion, which was waged the way a war ought to be waged, with overwhelming force.) We’ve never had enough troops in Iraq to handle the post war. On this, I remain in agreement with Colin Powell, who wanted either that we don’t invade Iraq, or that we do so with overwhelming force. John McCain also wants more troops in Iraq, not less. It was Rumsfeld’s idea that we go lean and mean after the initial invasion. This, in my opinion was a mistake.

Since we do not have a President who has the courage to wage an all-out war as is necessary, then the next best alternative, then, is to think about alternatives, now that our politically correct war has made such a mess. So, in this set of circumstances, the Baker Commission is a good thing.

Let's Do It

Again considering that we do not have the will to wage an all-out war in Iraq, the recommendations of the report are, I believe, good ones. We either need to fight to win in Iraq, or get out. If we “get out,” we need to stay in the region, maybe Iraq itself, in areas where our soldiers won’t be targets, to protect against a total takeover by Iran and the Shias; but other than this, we need to get out of the way, and let the Iraqis kill each other until they work things out for themselves. Yes, you panting conspiracy theorists, we do need to protect the oil reserves in Iraq, and keep them from falling into terrorist hands, or to Iran.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

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