Keen Arrows

Can we do that?

This entry was posted on 12/13/2006 10:21 PM and is filed under Iraq.

Erk. David Warren seems to think the war in Iraq should be fought like a war.

"To put this plainly: the “strategy” in Fallujah should have been to make it into a parking lot, and build a Wal-Mart at one end. There would have been great loss of life, but the message to our enemies and their supporters everywhere would have been, “We will not be toyed with.” Civilians whose sympathies are with the enemy cannot be won over, and have not been, by the “candy to children” approach. They must be taught that sheltering the enemy -- even involuntarily -- means sharing the enemy’s fate. (The distinction between what is voluntary and involuntary soon changes under those conditions.) And this, in the longer run, is what saves millions of lives."

How thoroughly unmodern! Read the whole barbaric article, What to do in Iraq. The next thing you know, Warren will be spouting off about actually winning the war-- everyone knows we don't play that way.

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12/18/2006 5:23 PM dzho wrote:
The parking lot strategy is a good one. Been there, done that. But we won the war in Iraq already, in about three weeks, and it didn’t even require any parking lot. The problems came after that, with the Walmart strategy.
Warren’s right, the Army has no skills, ability, or particular incentive to distinguish amongst sometimes-armed jihadis and bystanders. That’s why asap troops occupy the ground they should turn it over to the police who do have. an Army has to disband or it will continue to do the only thing it knows and is trained to do, which is keep on fighting a war. The other side obliges by fighting back.
Those who can’t tell the difference and assign law enforcement duties to the army, ensure failure. Warren’s solution is to install a puppet colonial government. Been there, done that, too, notably in 1954 when we overthrew Iran’s democracy. We wouldn’t be in this mess if we could run colonies half as well as we can fight wars. Instead we have the army build walmart and run it, and they create new enemies, and we have to make a new parking lot…how many times have we retaken Fallujah now?
Fight the war like a war—go in, win, and get out.
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