[lit-ideas] Re: Arthur Herman on Iraq

Of course we can win militarily.  We could have won in Korea militarily.  We 
could have won in Vietnam militarily.  We can win in Iraq militarily.  We've 
got the bomb (tens of thousands of 'em).  We can kill the whole fucking, 
goddamn earth if we want to.  We the man!  But here's the rub.  We had no legal 
or moral right to be in Vietnam (Korea's muddier).  We were the aggressor in 
Vietnam (taking over from the French), and we have no legal or moral right to 
be in Iraq.  We are the aggressor.  WE MUST NOT WIN could be the conclusion of 
any legalist or moralist with integrity.  Fortunately, I have no integrity -- 
mostly because I don't want to end up on one of our beloved government's 
SUSPECTED TERRORIST LISTS and lose all my customers.  God bless America!

The War In Algeria was France's darkest hour.  So far it's a toss up between 
Vietnam and Iraq which is the darkest of America dark hours (internationally, 
that is -- domestically, slavery's a pitch dark hour, legal segregation, a 
midnight dark hour).  We've already descended into the moral depravity of the 
French in Algeria.  Hopefully, if we haven't already, we won't become the new 
standard of barbarity.  Get us out NOW!

Mike Geary
Memphis

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Brian 
  To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 10:32 AM
  Subject: [lit-ideas] Arthur Herman on Iraq


  Arthur Herman, author of the excellent piece "Getting Serious About Iran: A 
Military Option," has a new article called "How To Win In Iraq, And How To 
Lose" in the April issue of Commentary.  It has been posted to OpinionJournal 
and is well worth reading.  He argues that 


  ...the historical record is clear. The roots of failure in fighting 
insurgencies like the one in Iraq are not military. To the contrary, Western 
militaries have shown remarkable skill in learning and relearning the crucial 
lessons of how to prevail against unconventional foes, and tremendous bravery 
in fighting difficult and unfamiliar battles. If Iraq fails, the cause will 
have to be sought elsewhere.


  He goes on to liken our present experience with the one the French had in in 
Algeria, where a mobile insurgency caused chaos and loss of face over and over 
until the French changed their tactics and put the insurgents on the defensive. 
 He cites David Galula with the tactics that eventually broke the back of the 
insurgents and notes that while Galula's book Counterinsurgency Warfare was 
virtually unknown two years ago, it is now "the bible of American 
counterinsurgency thinkers like Gen. Petraeus, whose field manual it largely 
informs."


  Good stuff.  Read it.


  Brian
  Birmingham, AL

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