[PV] The Surge That Failed

[Frenchy]

July 30, 2007 Issue
Copyright © 2007 The American Conservative


The Surge That Failed
Iraq still lacks conditions for peace. More troops don’t change that.

by Paul Robinson

“How was it,” asked Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace, that the Russian army “did not achieve its purpose when it had surrounded the French on three sides and its intention was to capture them?” The answer, according to Tolstoy, was that “the aim of cutting off Napoleon and his army never existed except in the imagination of some dozen individuals. It could not have existed because it was absurd and impracticable.”

More here......
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_07_30/article2.html

[AZXD]

“real progress has already been made in the war against Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the terrorists know it. That’s why they’re surging against our surge.”

Logical ?
A surge against a surge! I can see that this is working
More = More

if violence goes up, the surge is succeeding; if it goes down, that is also a sign that the surge is succeeding

Yep, got it!

Petraeus has repeatedly stated that the solution to Iraq’s problems is political, not military

This, I believe!

Here we confront the fundamental weakness of the American position in Iraq. While military power rests in the hands of the United States, political sovereignty belongs to the Iraqis. This situation conflicts entirely with a basic premise of counter-insurgency theory, namely the unity of military and political command.

Has the Iraqi government returned from it's vacation, and does anyone know how many of our troops died while they (Iraqi Gov) were on vacation?

[Ed Ely]

Until we kick the enemies a*s and leave them
dead or dying on the battlefield, we have
achieved zilch, except to show the rest of the
world what a bunch of candy a*ses we really
are.

Ed

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Ed Ely

Until we kick the enemies a*s and leave them
dead or dying on the battlefield, we have
achieved zilch, except to show the rest of the
world what a bunch of candy a*ses we really
are.

Ed

So, if that's the only alternative, why didn't we just turn the whole area into a glass bowl from the start? Perhaps it has something to do with leadership at the top, or maybe it is because we are fighting an enemy we cannot identify. Maybe it is because we are fighting an idea and not an individual or country.

[Ed Ely]

I have advocated the 'glass bowl' arrangement on
two separate ocassions here on forum.

Exactly, two hundred twenty miles, North West
North of the city of Bagdad. Two - Twenty Meg-a-ton
each, placed one hundred miles from each other,
North to South.

Instead of traveling to Mecca, let them travel via
camel through the sands to see what it 'could have
been'. End of story, end of war!

Ed

So, if that's the only alternative, why didn't we just turn the whole area into a glass bowl from the start? Perhaps it has something to do with leadership at the top, or maybe it is because we are fighting an enemy we cannot identify. Maybe it is because we are fighting an idea and not an individual or country.

[eric_t12]

??

you mean its hard to defeat an idea with physical force?

let's just kill everyone who has the idea then.

[Judge]

No, we can follow paul and just surrender to them.. give them what they want.

Originally Posted by eric_t12

??

you mean its hard to defeat an idea with physical force?

let's just kill everyone who has the idea then.

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Judge

No, we can follow paul and just surrender to them.. give them what they want.

So, why wait for your leader?
Just go out and do it.
The battlefront is not a keyboard. So stop typing and go do something.

We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army.

What do you call assassins who accuse assassins?

We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write "f**k" on their airplanes because it's obscene!

You should probably go out and do it. Do the obscene before someone labels it as such. You preach of annihiliation. Are you not ready to take up arms and further your cause. Do you not still wish to continue the message of

Originally Posted by Judge
killing them all and Christianizing their children.

[jkswiss]

Jesus Christ Judge, take a step back and listen to yourself talk sometime.

[WAZX3DRVR]

Cheney and others understood the folly of occupation back in the '90s...it is only too bad they didn't apply that understanding to our post-9/11 actions. It is hard to envision any tangible "victory" any time even remotely soon. Meanwhile, our soldiers are dying and being terribly injured during 15-16 mo. deployments. It's not a great situation with any imminent relief on the horizon.