Submit your comments on this article |
Iraq-Jordan |
BelmontClub: Who's on First? |
2005-06-23 |
Posted by:3dc |
#10 To figure out the state of the insurgency, I use what I call the "L.A." standard. I contrast this with what some liberals use, which I call the "Canada" standard. I believe that when Iraq is close to Los Angeles as far as violence, employment and a few other standards, Iraq will have been pacified. However, liberals insist that Iraq must be a mirror image to Canada, or else all is lost, the insurgents have one, and Iraq is a quagmire. |
Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-23 22:42 |
#9 I'd go for even briefer "Hammer of Thor" campaigns....about 5 hrs, seems 40X as long and takes out hot pursuit routes - to the Med |
Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-23 21:41 |
#8 ..but we are doing nothing about all the foreign fighters pouring over the borders,.. [...] The American people see through their BS far better than in Viet Nam and remember the consequences of letting the Vietnamese down. It aint going to happen again. In a Vietnam comparison then, the Prez needs to ratchet up the pressure on Iran and Syria to a point of pain in a short period of time with less restriction, in the vein of the Vietnam War's Linebacker campaigns, as opposed to the more gradual and hamstrung Rolling Thunder. |
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-06-23 20:59 |
#7 Another big difference is that this time, the troops are very, very aware of who's supporting them and who is not-- and why they are not. I wonder how many of them will be permanently soured on the Democratic Party because of it? |
Posted by: Dave D. 2005-06-23 20:15 |
#6 FA, I agree, but you have left out the most important parts. The Democrats and MSM have turned anti-war.The one big difference? The American people see through their BS far better than in Viet Nam and remember the consequences of letting the Vietnamese down. It aint going to happen again. |
Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-06-23 19:27 |
#5 It's an Arab Guerilla, we win by default. Inshallah and PBU Mike Martin. |
Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-23 19:16 |
#4 We won in Iraq the way we won the war in Viet Nam: When we left, aprox. 99% of the original Viet Cong had been killed. Hanoi had been forced to import village chiefs and tax collectors from the North. We won the battle against the Viet Cong. We did not win the conventional battle against the NVA. We lacked the will to keep them from using the Ho Chi Minh Trail and we lacked the will to intervene when they sent dozens of divisions with thousands of cannon in the final offensive. We are in the same position today. the LOCAL resistance is just about over, but we are doing nothing about all the foreign fighters pouring over the borders, and the Iraqi army is too weak to fight a conventional army. If we leave before they're ready, we could have another Viet Nam here too. Al |
Posted by: Frozen Al 2005-06-23 18:32 |
#3 at the risk of being called a Clinton, much depends on what you mean by the word 'win' what if the Jihadis keep the suicide bombing up for 10 years and the Iraqis lose 10,000 people per year (including, say, 3000 police/guards/soldiers). who has won in that case maybe not them buy maybe not us either |
Posted by: mhw 2005-06-23 18:28 |
#2 Gotta put a quote in here; this is too good:. . . Seizing state power over a definite territory is the explicit objective of nearly every guerilla armed force in the world today: if they can achieve that, they win. If they cannot achieve that and have no realistic prospect of ever achieving that, they are defeated, however long they may continue to exist. |
Posted by: Mike 2005-06-23 18:14 |
#1 Interesting points - this "insurgent" force is trying to subjugate the majority of the country. They have little territory under their control, no save havens, like other guerilla groups. They have to control territory to win, not just kill people. Nathan Bedford Forrest formed the KKK in 1866 to continure the fight again the North, but we do not refer to the American Civil War as a "quagmire." Read the whole thing. As one commentator says, "lucid". |
Posted by: Bobby 2005-06-23 17:51 |