[lit-ideas] Re: New troops, new tactics?
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 08:50:57 -0800
So, you're saying "More kill, kill, kill"?
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian" <cabrian@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 8:16 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] New troops, new tactics?
Marvin Olasky at World magazine's blog site commenting on Victor
Davis Hanson's newest piece on troop surge:
Victor Davis Hanson, who knows his military history, writes that
extra US forces in Iraq will help only if US tactics change: "Our
past errors were not so much dissolving a scattered Iraqi military or
even de-Baathification, but rather giving an appearance of impotence,
whether in allowing the looting to continue or pulling back from
Fallujah or giving a reprieve to the Sadr militias. So, yes, send
more troops to Iraq — but only if they are going to be allowed to
hunt down and kill the vicious and sectarian in a manner that they
have not been allowed to previously. This surge should not be viewed
in terms of manpower alone. Rather it should be planned as the
corrective to past misguided laxity, in which no quarter will now be
given to die-hard jihadists as we pursue victory, not better
policing. We owe that assurance to the thousands more of young
Americans who now will be sent into harm’s way."
I agree that troop surge alone is not the answer. Merely putting
more boots on the ground is not a recipe for victory but if they are
used tactically and offensively they can make a big difference.
However, I'm not convinced that we should tie our victory to the
success of "the establishment of a stable Iraqi democratic
government, free from sectarian and terrorist violence" as Hanson
suggests.
Democratic government has been established in Iraq but its stability
will depend in the long term on the Iraqis themselves and the choices
they make. I'm uncomfortable with owning the responsibility for
something whose ultimate outcome is not under our control.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.16.7/619 - Release Date: 1/7/2007
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
