As unbelievable as Col. David Hunt's allegations are, there is no question that this war has been the most overlawyered in history (thanks, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton...), nor that our rules of engagement in this War--because of the lawyers and because of America's enemies in the Democrat Congress--have served to prolong the war and cause more loss of life both for our military and for civilians.
It is time for the President to say "enough is enough" and to assert his full Constitutional authority to wage war as he chooses. That right was given to him by the Constitution and nothing can take it away.
On the other hand, Bin Laden may have already assumed room temperature in some cave somewhere long ago; sources close to the intel on his latest "video" assert that all of the "current" content was rolling in "audio-only" mode while the video showed only a still picture. The only synchronization of video/audio occurred when Bin Laden was speaking on topics which he could have filmed years ago. Not exactly a slam dunk for his still being among the living.
But in a sense, Bin Laden's current status is beside the point when it comes to Col. Hunt's speculation; the real point is that America is fighting a global war with a downsized military with rules of engagement that favor our enemies. How about we allow our brave men and women to fight without one hand tied behind their back, for a change?
Anyone who was lucky enough to watch Ken Burns' brilliant documentary The War knows exactly what I mean. Once upon a time, America and its leadership had the cojones to fight an all-out war to WIN. Today for the first time in history, those we are fighting have a good chance to get their hands on real WMD's, given enough time and enough appeasement by the postmodern, Euro-wimped West. So there has never been a more compelling argument for total war--at least not in that sense. Yet our biggest enemies (the internal ones) continue to throw up roadblocks at every turn and our media has become a national disgrace.
It is nothing short of miraculous that--despite these huge constraints--we have nevertheless been so incredibly successful with our Iraq surge is a testament to the genius of men like General Petraeus, and the tenacity of our troops and our President to fight the political battles at home.
Perhaps enough so that a Thompson or Giuliani or Romney would consider Petraeus as a running mate--assuming that the war continues to go as well as it has in Iraq. This guy is a legitimate American hero, and would easily trump any Wesley Clark or Bill Richardson the Dems could throw up as a VP nominee.
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4 comments:
In a situation where most Iraqis want the US out yesterday, what exactly is "victory" supposed to look like? I think some strong-armed Iraqi dictator (like that Saddam fellow the CIA installed in a CIA-backed coup a couple decades ago) is probably Bush and Cheney's best-case scenario at this point. You're right on one thing: Historically, unpopular occupations are only successful when a large minority has been bought off and is therefore loyal (not our situation) or when the occupiers are extremely violent.
I do not want to categorize you out of hand--but anyone who is in denial about the stakes of establishing an America-friendly regime in Iraq needs an understanding of geopolitics that would be difficult to impart in a simple comment.
They said "Star Wars" was a pipe dream too; now the Russians are terrified that we are about to deploy it in Europe. America has always been about "can do" not "can't be done."
And as much as you may or may not dislike the outcome--difficult to tell from your post, but the suspicion is there--we ARE going to win this thing. And if that takes regime change in Iran and Syria also, so be it.
The Iraqis want us out--but have gone out of their way (other than the Iran-backed Sadr-ites and what is left of Al Qaeda) to say they want us to stay until the situation is completely stabilized. And we will have long-term military bases there. Get used to it, America is going to win, unless Dems completely pull the funding plug. And if that happens now--after all the success we have enjoyed over the last year--the Democrats will cease to exist as a party in 2008.
great post DT.
i think bush is a liberal wimp when it comes to the so-called GWOT.
FDR and Truman would've wrapped this thing up a few years back - by dropping a few nukes on tora bora and fire-bombing fallujah etc.
Proof that Bush is a lib is in his spending and his attempts to get Miers on the court and to goive illegals amnesty.
i would never ever vote for W again - UNLESS HE RAN AGAINST A DEMOCRAT!
The Dems are all reading from the same playbook at this point. If your desire is to stick around in Iraq and to run up another half-trillion dollar IOU, you'll get your wish no matter who's elected.
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