The Command structure is in daily, close consultation with the field and with the Defense Secretary. There are multiple, daily reports from the field. The U. S. Armed Forces of today are communication-oriented to put it mildly. The overall campaign has gone well; and we are meeting the deadlines for establishing the first democracy in the Arab world. The men and women in the field are meeting the test and are damn proud of their accomplishments. And, yes, considering the type of war, we have not done badly with casualities - consider the overall 405,000 U. S. war dead in WWII, a figure brought about by this nation's reluctance to early-on face the rising military aggressions of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Six thousand U. S. Marines dead on Iwo Jima alone. We need some faith in our military people. I've met some of them; and they are the best. Finally, it's not if we can win this war, but that we must win it - and will win it. If there are approaches that are not working, they will be corrected.
"The Command structure is in daily, close consultation with the field and with the Defense Secretary. There are multiple, daily reports from the field. The U. S. Armed Forces of today are communication-oriented to put it mildly."
No doubt true.
"The overall campaign has gone well; and we are meeting the deadlines for establishing the first democracy in the Arab world."
Well, I have a single question: is the Iraqi army getting stronger "fast enough" to be shouldering most of the burden of maintaining order inside Iraq, allowing the US forces to be withdrawn to the periphery by 11/2008.
Otherwise, I believe a Democrat will be elected President. I am not making a case that we should leave Iraq. I am saying if the above is not accomplished, a Democrat President will take us out, very fast and completely. And then the democracy will unravel in the face of external pressures. (I realize I could be wrong and hope I am.)
"The men and women in the field are meeting the test and are damn proud of their accomplishments."
They are and they should be. I'm proud to be a citizen of the country they represent.
" And, yes, considering the type of war, we have not done badly with casualities - consider the overall 405,000 U. S. war dead in WWII, a figure brought about by this nation's reluctance to early-on face the rising military aggressions of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Six thousand U. S. Marines dead on Iwo Jima alone."
Agreed.
"We need some faith in our military people. I've met some of them; and they are the best. Finally, it's not if we can win this war, but that we must win it - and will win it. If there are approaches that are not working, they will be corrected."
My lack of faith is not in the military people. It is in the administration's ability to make the very hard choices we need to make to win. To bulk up the Iraqis with tanks and artillery and some aircraft ASAP, to kick the media out of the country, and to start slowly pulling US forces back to the periphery and let the Iraqis handle the interior---though the handling will be rough.