Category: Iraq
No WMDs – Did Bush Know?
Sidney Blumenthal’s article at Salon states that the answer is a resounding “Yes!”. On Sept. 18, 2002, CIA director George Tenet briefed President Bush in the Oval Office on top-secret intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, according to two former senior CIA officers. Bush dismissed as worthless this information from…
A Study in Cowardice
The Center for America Progress’ (CAP) recent study entitled “How to Redeploy: Implementing a Responsible Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq” (PDF alert) features a quote from Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War: “No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare.” This is meant to lead us into the center’s belief that America…
How to Fight a War
Wars should be fought to win a victory against an aggressor. That is the true purpose of war. Not nation-building. Not leading an ungrateful rabble to the holy grail of democracy only to have them spit on it. Even preempting a potential enemy’s future capabilities is not, by itself, a reason to fight a war….
Liberals Responsible for 9/11?
The L.A. Times, perhaps emboldened by it’s potential re-purchase by the Chandler family, published an interesting opinion piece by Dinesh D’Souza entitled “How the left led us into 9/11“. Here’s the argument: In considering a funding cutoff for U.S. troops in Iraq, the liberal leadership in Congress runs the risk of making the United States…
New Iraq Strategy
Marc Schulman recently posted a compelling analysis of the “new approach” in which he tenatively supports the change in strategy given that the Iraqi government does its part. For the most part I agree with his position. One statement I don’t agree with completely is this one in reference to the psychological stress of war:…
Back in Iraq
I didn’t catch Bush’s speech on tube, but reading it is undoubtedly better than watching him deliver it anyway. That said, it’s not the most informative piece of writing I’ve ever seen. To me this is the most important bit: It is in the interests of the United States to stand with the brave men…
A Speech for the New Year
Senator Gordon Smith (who?) recently gave an excellent speech on the Iraq situation. MuckRaker.com has a transcript here. Many of the posts on this topic focus on the fact that Smith is Republican, that he’s broken ranks with Bush, that Ted Kennedy congratulated him on his speech, and other armchair gamesmanship. The preening, masturbatory nature…
Civilians in Iraq
The Chronicle says that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October 2006. Kind of puts the ~100 American troops in perspective a bit, doesn’t it? At some level we – the U.S – have to accept part of the responsibility, I think, when the TCOTWII, Total Cost of the War in Iraq, is computed.
Troop Levels in Iraq
Michael Gordon’s interview is a must-hear. The summary? We need more troops on the ground and we’ll be there for years if we don’t do something irresponsible like bolt in a Democratic panic. Recent events like the daylight kidnapping of Ministry of Higher Ed employees demonstrate the scarcity and competency of police resources. Most or…