Following up the last post — Robert Kagan has a column in today’s Washington Post claiming that “the surge” is succeeding. Glenn Greenwald asks the sensible question, “Why would any rational person listen to Robert Kagan?” Glenn reminds of of several things Kagan has declared to be true in the past that, um, weren’t. See also No More Mr. Nice Blog.
Naturally, the usual Kool–Aiders uncritically embrace everything Kagan wrote.
In the last post I talked about “idealists” in Washington cooking up impractical policies for Iraq. Here we see a variation on the same phenomenon — Kagan’s writing from his home — I believe he lives in Brussels — and he knows the surge is working. How? He reads the blog Iraq the Model. He also mentions a report by NBC’s Brian Williams.
At least 42 people were killed by suicide bombers in Iraq today, but who’s counting? Kagan doesn’t mention bombs in his op ed. The new counterinsurgency strategy is having a significant effect, Kagan says. Of course, if 42 Americans were killed by suicide bombers in U.S. cities, Kagan would think it among the greatest atrocities ever to befall mankind. Not to mention reason to start two or three more wars.
I wouldn’t be so eager to conclude that the disappearance of the Mahdi militia from the streets of Baghdad is a sign of cowardice or an indicator of a successful surge plan. I’m more inclined to think that somebody is one step ahead of Bush because time and money is constantly workng against Bush.
If I remember my American history correctly,it wasn’t the military defeat of the British at Yorktown that ended the Revolutionary War.. it was the wearing down of resources over time that made the British decide to finally call it quits. The same goes for America’s defeat in Vietnam. The insurgency in Iraq knows that time is their greatest ally.
Right on Swami. Living in California, same size as Iraq with comparable populations, when I project 20,000 bodies into this state, it’s hard to believe that 20,000 (hell, don’t some sports arenas hold that many people) additional bodies are going to be anything but a drop in the bucket. The British during our revolution not only lost because the incentive to win, not to mention the resources, wasn’t there, there weren’t enough military bodies to cover the vast territory and all the inhabitants.
You’d think by this time that politicians and militaries – certainly if they ever read history – would get what it takes to conquer and hold a territory and its people. (Anybody look at a map of Iran lately and wonder how we’re going to conquer and hold a country that size?)
If I could but just touch the hem of his flight suit.