[lit-ideas] Re: The beginning of the end in Iraq
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:38:01 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 10/20/2006 1:45:58 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The beginning of the end in Iraq
>
> Lou Dobbs -- yes, Andy, I sometimes watch him -- had General
> Grange on yesterday to comment on Iraq. Dobbs set him up
> before the break by stating, "and next we'll have a general
> tell us that we're winning." When the general came on, Dobbs
> asked him something to the effect of why generals aren't
> fried if they don't produce results.
>
> General Grange had a brief outburst that seemed to surprise
> Dobbs. He said, "Half of the country seems to want us to
> lose this war! Why do we want to lose this war? We can win
> it if we want to."
>
> It was remarkable. I found myself cheering for Grange. Dobbs
> too had a nod of recognizing a true statement, smiling and
> shaking his head in agreement.
>
> Yeah not a bad idea. Fight to win. Put the entire army in
> Iraq.
What army? There is no more army. Why do you think they keep rotating the
same guys? There are all sorts of plans to outsource, i.e., privatized,
the desk jobs and put those people out in the field. They're fighting with
the entire army now.
>Close the borders.
How? Without Syrian and Iranian cooperation, it will be nearly impossible.
We don't have the troops.
>Impose a news blackout.
What for? They've only been reporting good news since the beginning
anyway. It's been known since 2003 that this war is lost, and it's only
filtering out now. If they really reported what was going on over there
all along, maybe things would be different.
>Kill all
> the militia, from the leadership down unless they disarm.
Isn't that what we've been doing?
> Round up all the unemployed males
The unemployed males are all in the insurgency. How is this different from
the above sentence?
>and put them in stockades
> for a year or so, allowing them to go out on work details to
> rebuild.
Like in Abu Ghraib.
Give it a year and if it doesn't work, leave.
>
> When you consider how ineptly the invasion was handled from
> the beginning, with not enough troops to win and just enough
> troops to lose ... one thinks Grange may have been an
> optimist in asserting that half of the country wants us to
> lose, that Bush & Co. also wanted us to lose.
>
>
Eric, everything you've said shows that we're still clueless that this war
cannot be won militarily. Remember President Johnson? The ONLY way this
war can be won is through hearts and minds, and that's the very thing
Americans have no idea how to go about doing. What did us in is our ethic
of business first, people if there's anything left over. Well, guess what?
The insurgency are the hearts and minds, and all we want to do is hammer
them into submission. Do you really think that would work? BTW, who
would lead this new offensive?
Anybody want to talk about nutrition?
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