Posted on 02/28/2007 4:55:36 PM PST by Sub-Driver
US commanders admit: we face a Vietnam-style collapse
Elite officers in Iraq fear low morale, lack of troops and loss of political will
Simon Tisdall Thursday March 1, 2007 The Guardian
An elite team of officers advising the US commander, General David Petraeus, in Baghdad has concluded that they have six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat. The officers - combat veterans who are experts in counter-insurgency - are charged with implementing the "new way forward" strategy announced by George Bush on January 10. The plan includes a controversial "surge" of 21,500 additional American troops to establish security in the Iraqi capital and Anbar province.
But the team, known as the "Baghdad brains trust" and ensconced in the heavily fortified Green Zone, is struggling to overcome a range of entrenched problems in what has become a race against time, according to a former senior administration official familiar with their deliberations.
"They know they are operating under a clock. They know they are going to hear a lot more talk in Washington about 'Plan B' by the autumn - meaning withdrawal. They know the next six-month period is their opportunity. And they say it's getting harder every day," he said.
By improving security, the plan's short-term aim is to create time and space for the Iraqi government to bring rival Shia, Sunni and Kurd factions together in a process of national reconciliation, American officials say. If that works within the stipulated timeframe, longer term schemes for rebuilding Iraq under the so-called "go long" strategy will be set in motion.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
BS Detector: The Guardian's Breathless Iraq Report A Legit Big-Time Exclusive or Unabashed Yellow Journalism? By EASON JORDAN Posted 1 hr. 13 min. ago In a sensational Thursday page one British Guardian newspaper report headlined "US commanders admit: we face a Vietnam-style collapse" in Iraq, correspondent Simon Tisdall provides this striking lede graph:
An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.
"Six months to win the war in Iraq - or...."
Really?
Maybe.
Who knows.
Read the full 26-paragraph, 1,460-word story here.
If you can find a quote or evidence anywhere in the story to bolster the unattributed first paragraph claim that U.S. military officers believe "the US has six months to win the war in Iraq," your eyes are better than mine.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1670/BS_Detector_The_Guardians_Breathless_Iraq_Report
Please spread the word about an appeal for redress that people in the military can sign to show support for the mission:
New security strategy transforms battleground (A Must Read)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793095/posts
An antidote to the poison from the Guardian.
here you go...
I have found it really interesting trying to get lefties to understand those facts. They really are in serious denial on the history there.
" Democrats and their doppelgangers in the MSM "
are having their own 'surge'.
Got to love the spin. Which is a nicer way of saying BS
I agree 100%. If we, the USA, decide that there is something so important we have to send men and women to fight and die, then do it completely. Not some mealy mouthed "police action".
If one or more of our cities gets nuked, will we do it then?
I've read enough.
Ever since Viet Nam, every military action is called a Viet Nam. Grenada was called a Viet Nam. Nicaragua was going to be a Viet Nam. Gulf War I was going to be Viet Nam. Afghanistan was going to be Viet Nam. And now the media have their Viet Nam. And guess what? We will end up pulling out of there and the terrorists will be proven right. Then what? Well, they will start full force at us in Afghanistan, and the media will call that a Viet Nam. The media has concentrated on every single negative detail since 9/11 and have blown it out of proportion, never concentrating on our successes. What would have been the result if they did the reverse? We will never know. It's like Jack Nicholson said in the Keaton Batman movie - 'we've been rated out, boy.' I think it is getting time for me to pull back and stockpile.
Nope.
IMO Bush is just kicking the can down the road to the next POTUS.
BUMP
That's depressing. But probably true.
No, we won't.
I'd even go so far as to made this outlandish statement . . . If one or more U.S. cities were attacked using radiological or biological weapons that were smuggled into this country from Mexico, this government would do everything in its power to avoid implementing any restrictions that would stem the flow of illegal immigrants across our southern border.
I agree. But let everything be as God wills. I'm through worrying.
I've noticed Al Guardian is often the ultimate source when articles and op-eds from "western media" are quoted in the islamic press... go figure.
Why do you post this enemy propaganda here ?
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