What Went Wrong?
We were supposed to win…
After the US forces stormed through Iraq, taking
out Saddam Hussein’s evil empire, things looked pretty rosy.
Enemies, both foreign and domestic, scurried back beneath their
rocks, though carping and whining all the way. The US assault
was, after all, quite impressive. Shortly after, Libya abandoned
it’s weapons of mass destruction program, including a remarkably
advanced nuclear program. Afghanistan was subdued. Pakistan came
closer, as an ally against terror. Syria was banished from Lebanon.
For a year afterwards, there was remarkably little violence. The
Iraqi people had been liberated. They were happy we were there.
And Americans were undeniably united behind President George Bush.
Today, that vision is long gone. Hezbollah controls half of Lebanon,
approaching impunity. Syria unofficially still wields influence
in Lebanon, actively undermining the government. Terrorists rule
Baghdad and the Anbar province, killing hundreds each week, sometimes
daily. Iran is already overtly making plans to control much of
Iraq. The Russians are openly selling nuclear technology and goods
to Iran. North Koreans supply Iran with missiles. China has shot
down a satellite. World opinion has turned dramatically bitter
against the United States. And domestically, although few want
to cut and run, a majority of Americans no longer support the
war effort.
So, what went wrong?
Rummy Was Wrong
Donald Rumsfeld had the right idea for winning a conventional
war. Light and fast, the conventional war of Desert Storm was
over quickly. But when it came time to occupy and create security,
there is no replacement for boots on the ground. And Iraq is a
big place with 28 million. Many of them bad people.
After World War II, we secured Germany with over 400,000 American
troops. That’s after leveling most of their cities, killing
most of their people and only governed half the country. Without
a recovered and converted Iraq, 100,000 troops were woefully short.
Securing Weapons
With too few troops, there were dozens of major ammunition depots
all over Iraq that went unguarded for years. All sorts of dangerous
stuff was pilfered by locals, ranging from bullets to big bombs,
which have been used to murder tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians
and American personnel.
And there were virtually no “sweeps” of the various
cities and towns for weapons until years later. It would have
been far easier if American forces had locked down the ammo dumps
and conducted block-by-block searches in the days immediately
following the conventional war.
Border Security
At no time during this war or its aftermath, has anyone bothered
to seal the borders. With few troops and large, long borders,
bad people from all over the Middle East eventually began pouring
in to create chaos and mayhem. And of course, they still do.
Want a lesson on what could happen to America of we don’t
close our borders? Visit Iraq. In fact, we know there are operatives
here already. We just don’t know where they are. Or when
they will strike.
Keeping Enemies at Bay
It’s no secret that Iran and Syria have instigated and escalated
the insurgencies by pitting and arming various Iraqi factions
against each other. The American toll has risen above 3,000 dead
and 20,000 wounded. For Iraqis, it’s much higher. And it’s
all unnecessary.
The first time an IED exploded, George Bush should have made
an announcement live on American television that American intelligence
knows Iran supplied terrorists in Iraq, and in retaliation, a
cruise missile is on its way to take out a major bridge in both
Iran and Syria. Then, as a live feed broadcast the bridge bombings,
Bush should have flatly stated that from this point forward, each
time any nation interferes with Iraqi affairs, they will lose
a bridge. The next day, leaflets would be dropped on every city
in each nation, telling them our position.
After the bridges are gone, we would target a few major roads
and important buildings. You can bet that the level of violence
would have almost disappeared, as Iranian and Syrian residents
tired of the major inconveniences. Instead, Bush has acted as
if these nations were untouchable.
Huge mistake. ALWAYS make your enemies pay for the price of aggression.
The Factions
Before the war, Iraq was virtually 100% secular. Certainly, folks
had their roots, but they meant little in day-to-day life. Since
then, with no Saddam Hussein or US forces standing in the way,
Iran, Syria and Al Qaeda successfully stirred up religious factions
against each other, creating the current mess. Sure, Hussein’s
minority Sunni’s oppressed the Shiites. So what? Few Iraqis
cared.
Instead, there should have been a rule from Day One that any violence
would be met with swift death. That’s right. Death.
Unfortunately, security forces had bizarre “rules of engagement”
that protected certain characters and certain groups. There have
been many reports of US forces required to let known terrorists
walk free from capture. Thugs like Muqtada al-Sadr have been permitted
to run rampant through Iraq exacting revenge on supposed transgressors,
whose crime has often been nothing greater than being raised a
Sunni. Sunnis of course, have their own raiders as well. The leaders
of these insurgent groups are locally worshipped as they brazenly
stand up to the United States and the new Iraqi government, killing
and maiming innocents. Take a few out early, and prospective replacements
would know the rules and step back into line.
Of course, if we killed a few of these jokers, there would have
been complaints across the globe. Big deal. French-like opposition
happens anytime America goes to war, no matter how legitimate
and righteous the cause. Heck, most of Europe protested Reagan’s
threats against the Soviet Union. Even today, they don’t
appreciate the victory, which removed a threat and granted security
and freedom. Should Reagan have backed down?
WMD
Obviously, Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. His supply
of chemical weapons found after the war is still being counted.
They measure it in tons. The big enchilada was the nuclear program.
Incredibly, we know where it is: Syria. Our intelligence knows
it. Defectors have told us. So why didn’t we say something?
One good reason is that we risk starting another war. Not easy,
when we are already stretched. However, it would have been easy
to endlessly harass Syria. A few mysterious ship sinkings, perhaps
a stray bomb or two, and even an assassination here and there
would do wonders for cooperation. Instead, the Bush crew chose
to stand quiet, and allow enemies abroad and at home club the
President over the head endlessly with this issue.
Domestics
After supporting the war, American Democrats waited just a few
months. Then the chirping began. First, from the radical pundits,
with nothing to lose. Then, leftist icons with safe and secure
congressional seats, like Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi began tossing
political brickbats. The conscious decision to attack their own
nation in wartime is a hideous repeat of Vietnam, but with much
more at stake.
Of course, the liberal press helped blaze the trail, from their
omissions of American successes to their open flame-fanning of
failures.
In the face of such treason, the Bush administration did exactly
- nothing. They didn’t even offer a few witty barbs.
Eventually, with no push back from the Bush administration, the
liberal position gained credibility among the average American
dolts.
Today, even some powerful Republicans are openly defecting from
the Bush plan, cowardly placing their political careers over the
lives of fellow Americans.
Bush’s greatest political mistake was to not recognize the
treachery of the American Left, and treating them like enemies.
Instead, Bush should have crushed the America left harshly and
immediately. It would have been incredibly easy to label such
political operators as traitors earlier. After all, they are.
And a good leader could have successfully marketed the arrest
of New York Times reporters and editors who diabolically
published revelations of secret terrorist fighting information
as treason.
Instead, Bush offered a somewhat rope-a-dope silence. That doesn’t
win wars.
Selling the War
In the months following 9-11, Bush was granted the unspoken right
to almost do anything he wanted in the name of stopping terrorism.
That right has an expiration date, however. If the people stop
believing in the cause, the right is revoked. And we have just
about reached that point.
Bush should have seized the opportunity to seal America’s
borders, issue a warning to the press, and cracked the whip to
keep Republicans in line. And he should have cracked some skulls
to pass a more aggressive domestic agenda, including permanent
tax cuts, to keep the economy humming.
But the greatest mistake Bush made was not aggressively selling
the war. It wouldn’t have taken much to sell America on
the validation of the war. But think of the lost opportunities.
This Administration didn’t crush Joe Wilson and Valerie
Plame as the conspired to lie about Nigerian yellow cake. They
didn’t attack dissenting Democrats who pimped out the very
nation in a craven attempt to sell American security for political
gain. And they didn’t aggressively promote this war to the
American people.
Think about this. The Bush Administration failed to sell Americans
on the importance of taking out terrorists after we suffered the
greatest terrorist attack in modern history, right in the heart
of our largest and most prestigious city.
Unless you are a hopeless Democrat partisan, it’s easy
to understand why we went into Iraq. Primarily, the goal was to
surround Iran with our allies, separate Iran from Syria, and to
create a base for future US operations. But now, even the most
partisan conservatives, myself included, must admit that the prognosis
for Iraq has transformed from optimism to somewhat bleakness.
We must win. But the task is actually much harder. It’s
too late to close the Iraqi borders, although it’s not necessarily
a bad idea to do it anyway. The weapons caches are already looted.
We can’t put 400,000 troops in Iraq for added security.
And though it’s not too late to give Iran or Syria a black
eye, their below-the-belt damage has already taken its toll.
Today, Iran is openly licking its chops. Iran’s ambassador,
Hassan Kazemi Qumi announced a plan to offer military assistance
for “the security fight.” If you are an Iraqi, that’s
enticing. And he offered assistance in the reconstruction. Even
more enticing. Qumi even offered to “Urge the American companies
to come here.” Interesting! And Iran announced they are
opening a bank in Baghdad. A bank! When the enemy is
lending money to the people you were supposed to rescue, you are
pretty much screwed. Just ask the people of Lebanon.
So what went wrong? Quite a bit. Most of the problems stem from
a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to conducting
war, and from Bush’s natural inclination to find common
ground and shake hands, ironically contradicting his own observances
that some folks won’t negotiate. You have to kill them.
Surprisingly, it seems Bush has fallen into the Vietnam trap,
a war defined by political restraint.
Sadly, unless something changes very quickly, Americans will
probably learn some hard lessons. But we will remain oblivious
fro some time. When Iraq become a province of Iran, moving the
first and second largest oil reserves into the hands of terrorists,
most Americans will offer little more than a wave-off, happy to
be “rid” of the problem. As allies slowly edge away,
most Americans will blithely watch the football games on TV. What
happens today won’t hit home until the local terror cell,
protected by the New York Times, Ted Kennedy and the ACLU,
litters our streets with maimed American bodies. You think the
ACLU was motivated before? Wait until we face the awful task of
separating the terrorists from the innocent immigrants, right
here in America.
Ultimately, George Bush had the right idea, but fought this war
wrongly. And as predicted, the American Left has already taken
the helm of the American political ship, and is steering directly
for the rocks, as our foreign enemies cheer.
And as a die hard conservative Republican, I’m admitting
that George Bush, falling prey to political maneuverings both
foreign and domestic, has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
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