Posted on 09/25/2004 4:22:58 PM PDT by DJ Taylor
No war has ever gone as planned, but I believe the current war in Iraq didn’t just fail to go as planned, it didn’t even come close. The reason I say this is because it defies all logic to believe that the original plan for this war entailed removing Saddam Hussein and his Bathist Party from power and then replacing the fascist regime with a Democratic Republic. For President Bush to risk national security, his presidency, and his legacy on the ability of three disparate groups, such as the Iraqi Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds, to put together a government based on Jeffersonian democracy is just not believable. So, if this was not the plan for the Iraq war, what was the plan, and at what point did circumstances change so radically that the original plan could no longer be followed?
While the plan for this war was being developed, it was common knowledge that Iraq had WMD. Every intelligence agency in the world agreed with this premise and every world leader concurred. In addition to this, every psychological profiler assured the war planners that, if threatened, Saddam Hussein would use his WMD on his attackers. With this in mind, it is safe to assume that the war planners developed their plan, and contingency plans, based on the assumption that Saddam Hussein not only had WMD, but he would also not hesitate to use them.
However, no planner I have ever known would concoct a plan of attack that would place their troops on the border of a country they believed had and would use WMD, and then repeatedly threaten the target country that it was going to be attacked. This would only happen if the war planners didn‘t really believe that the target country had WMD, or if a more plausible but Machiavellian plan was in the making.
Could it be that our war planners believed Saddam had WMD and would use them, but placed thousands of U.S. troops in range of Saddam’s delivery systems in the hopes that he would use WMD on our troops? Was it their plan to use our troops as bait, in the hopes that Saddam would take the bait? If this was the war plan, what did our war planners possibly hope to gain by the lose of so many casualties on the first days of the war?
If Saddam had used WMD, and imbedded reporters had sent back the gruesome images of possibly thousands of our troops dying horribly at the hand of the Iraqi people, the American people would have most assuredly demanded nothing less than the total destruction of Iraq. Did our war plan, and all its contingency plans, hinge on the premise that Saddam had and would use WMD? Could it be that there was no plan for how to control Iraq after the war, simply because there was not supposed to be an Iraq after the war? If this was indeed our war plan, what did President Bush, his administration, his advisers, and DOD planners hope to gain by the total destruction of Iraq? The removal of Saddam’s WMD from any possibility of use by Muslim terrorists is a worthy reason, but it cannot be sufficient justification to completely destroy a country and most of its inhabitants. Could it be that our planners looked to history for guidance and used the methods a previous civilized nation used to defend its self from barbarians?
The United States is frequently compared with the Roman Empire for a variety of reasons. The only comparison I will make is that, like Rome, we are a civilized people under attack by the uncivilized. If we are to learn anything from history, we should learn from the Romans how to effectively deal with barbarians, as they were quit effective in their methods. During the early years of the Roman Empire, barbarians who threatened Rome were dealt with in the most severe methods imaginable, and this guaranteed peace for the citizens of Rome. Romans knew that barbarians only respected violent force, and they never hesitated to use it. It was only when Rome became too civilized to use harsh methods on their enemies, and attempted to use diplomacy and tribute instead, that Rome’s uncivilized neighbors eventually destroyed them. If our war planners used how Rome dealt with Carthage, and that was by inflicting complete and total destruction upon them, as a blueprint on how to deal with barbarians, their plan begins to make sense. Our war planners must have known that Roman citizens enjoyed a thousand years of peace with their uncivilized neighbors simply because they feared Rome would do to them what Rome did to Carthage.
If the United States could have used Saddam’s WMD attack on our troops as an excuse to destroy Iraq, the “shock and awe” of this event would have reverberated through the Muslim world for years to come. Any Muslim leader who even considered aligning himself with or supporting Muslim terrorists in their Jihad against the civilized world could fully expect to receive a measure of the same violent force that had been applied to Iraq.
History has shown us that the only way to deal with barbarians is with violent force, and I suspect that President Bush only attempted, with this war in Iraq, to cause Islamic terrorist states and supporters to have second thoughts about ever again attacking the United States. If the original plan had worked, it could have guaranteed the American people many years of peace and security, and no American should ever fault our president for that. However, Iran and North Korea should be very wary of our president. As he didn’t find Carthage in Baghdad, he just might still be looking for one.
There isn't enough tin foil made to cover your wild theories.
puff puff give man ...puff puff give!!
Think back just about three years ago, to 09-11-01.
The world will not be safe again until such people as Saddam are removed from power, and until the islamists are stopped. Working for democracy in the ME is one step along the way.
You keep posting opinions such as this on FR, and you will find many who strongly disagree with you. Enjoy your stay.
Troll?
There were and are WMD's, they may still be in Iraq, although probably moved somewhere else (Syria).
If you do not believe there were WMD's you have not been awake since 1990.
If you think all wars go as planned pull out a history book and read about WWII, it rarely went as planned.
We must use a show of force bigger than what we have used so far, this I will agree with you about and also that Islamo-Fascists only respect strength.
They will attack again and if they use NUKES do we have a right to respond in kind? Good Question? Stand-By because the answer to this question may not be as far off as you would hope. I hope everyone is getting prepared for the use of a tactical nuke as a WMD on the U.S. mainland. And I hope the right President is in Office to deal with the situation!
When have we humans ever learned from history, we only think in the now, but if we stopped for a moment to take a look at the past we could learn something and possibly avoid serious pitfalls along the way. With civilized societies rules of war apply, but when you have one benevolent civilized society trying to help civilize a savage society, all the while other civilized but appathetic societies are watching every move you make on the world stage, you cannot just toss out the rule book. You have to play by the rules the other guy doesn't.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.