Posted on 12/28/2007 11:41:33 PM PST by JohnHuang2
There are lessons to be learned from the dazzling success of the surge strategy in Iraq.
Lesson one is that just about no mission is impossible for the United States military. A year ago it was widely thought, not just by the new Democratic leaders in Congress but also in many parts of the Pentagon, that containing the violence in Iraq was impossible. Now we have seen it done.
We have seen this before in American history. George Washington's forces seemed on the brink of defeat many times in the agonizing years before Yorktown. Abraham Lincoln's generals seemed so unsuccessful in the Civil War that in August 1864 it was widely believed he would be defeated for re-election. But finally Lincoln found the right generals. Sherman took Atlanta and marched to the sea; Grant pressed forward in Virginia.
Franklin Roosevelt picked the right generals and admirals from the start in World War II, but the first years of the war were filled with errors and mistakes. Even Vietnam is not necessarily a counterexample. As Lewis Sorley argues persuasively in "A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam," Gen. Creighton Abrams came up with a winning strategy by 1972. South Vietnam fell three years later when the North Vietnamese army attacked en masse, and Congress refused to allow the aid the U.S. had promised.
George W. Bush, like Lincoln, took his time finding the right generals. But it's clear now that the forward-moving surge strategy devised by Gens. David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno has succeeded where the stand-aside strategy employed by their predecessors failed. American troops are surely the most capable military force in history. They just need to be given the right orders.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Outstanding article. Thanks for posting. Bottom up BUMP!
(Trickle down annihilation works well on our enemies.)
*bump* for later
Will the Democrats pay a price for their “traitorous” positions?
Who in the MSM will hold them accountable?
Wait, they are one and the same. No foul.
“As Lewis Sorley argues persuasively in “A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam,” Gen. Creighton Abrams came up with a winning strategy by 1972.”
People just can’t stand to give Nixon credit for anything, can they?
And now they’re trying to give credit for one of Reagan’s achievements to Charlie Wilson, whoever that was.
FR bookmark , .. and now I may sleep soundly ,.. for a few hours ( (( please don’t read anything into my remark *smirk* )) )
I agree with you. Up against (seemingly the whole world), George Bush moved forward. Most people would have caved under the pressure.
I have not been impressed by Bush’s presidency in general. But I must hand it to him on sticking to his guns on Iraq. Whether we should have invaded in the first place is arguable. But once there, victory was our only option, and Bush knew that.
It would probably amaze us all, just what could have been accomplished, if the country hadn’t had the democraps dragging it down for the last seven years.
” George Bush moved forward. Most people would have caved under the pressure.”
- - - as George Bush has in other areas (illegals, budget excesses, Saudiphilea)
It only goes , howevere, to further Barone's comment..that it takes time to find the right commanders. FDR did NOT have them at the start. The first US effort in the war..the US landings in North Africa..led to a defeat, if not a rout at Kasserine pass. They took very heavy casualties, and the commander was relieved on the spot and sent home in disgrace. Of course, no one at home knew about it until several weeks had past, because of censorship and media cooperation.
A comparable example in Iraq would be if a Marine battalion at Fallujah had taken 50% casualties (KIA/WIA) over several days attempting to retake the city, and untimately failed and had to be pulled back. Imagine what would be going on...
In 1944, 8 Generals were reduced to permenant grade (Col/LTC) and sent home by Eisenhower for not being able to keep their mouth shut about D-Day plans. Fortunately, the Germans thought it was disinformation...
That was just in UK between Jan-Jun 1944.
Plenty of senior officers were relieved for cause in WWII. The military does not hide the fact but, it does not advertise it either...
In 1968, Walter Cronkite declared Viet Nam unwinnable. Lyndon Johnson folded like a window shade.
In 2007, the Drive-By Media declared Iraq unwinnable. George Bush paid them no attention.
Day/Night.
harry reid ~ majority leader of the senate declared the war lost.....murtha states the war is unwinable and so does piglosi ~speaker of the house......
the lib/dem msm gives them a pass....
Bush gives them the finger!!!!
This link gives some great background on the Charlie Wilson story and the movie. Scroll down to the item: CHARLIE WILSON AND RONALD REAGAN’S WAR
http://www.tothepointnews.com/
“Saudiphilea”
Good word
From the article:
It was a victory of many people, chief among them of course being Ronald Reagan, for implementing the entire strategy of the Reagan Doctrine targeting Soviet vulnerabilities. Support for anti-Soviet guerrillas in Afghanistan and Nicaragua, for democracy movements in Eastern Europe, was a critical part of that strategy but only a part.
And in that part, Charlie Wilson played a critical role. It is silly for the movie to pretend that Charlie did it by himself without Ronald Reagan, and it is sad for the movie to end on a sour note of blame for the Taliban and Al Qaeda. To understand how Afghanistan ended up with this twin-infestation, again read Gulbuddin and the CIA.
Yet caveats aside, I am so glad this movie was made. It is so much better than the book, which is hopelessly permeated with hyper-liberal prejudice. It is wonderful that the world knows about this extraordinary man, knows what a hero Charlie Wilson is.
==snip==
The moral lesson of the movie should be a very sobering one for the Democrat Party. Charlie Wilson was proudly and unashamedly a Pro-American, Anti-Communist Democrat. His heroism should be a deep embarrassment to the party of Pelosi Galore and Lost Harry Reid, the party who apologizes for America’s existence and has neither the spine nor will to defend her.
The Democrat Party - indeed, America - needs more Charlie Wilsons. I will always have the greatest respect for what he did for our country, and I will always treasure his friendship.
A minor correction...the MSM declared the Iraq war "unwinnable" six months before the first bomb was dropped.
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