William F Buckley, one of the country's leading conservatives and former undercover CIA agent, takes a soboring look at the war in Iraq.
His obserations may surprise you.
February 24, 2006, 2:51 p.m.
It Didn’t Work
"I can tell you the main reason behind all our woes — it is America." The New York Times reporter is quoting the complaint of a clothing merchant in a Sunni stronghold in Iraq. "Everything that is going on between Sunni and Shiites, the troublemaker in the middle is America."
One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samara and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that “The bombing has completely demolished” what was being attempted — to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries. (Please select for entire article)
This post is not an attempt at, “I hate to say it but I told you so”. It’s more like a, “So where do we go from here?”
As I’ve said before, the only way that an insurgency will survive is by having the support of the masses. We have seen the Iraqi insurgence grow from a small elite group of foreigners and former soldiers, to a massive homegrown rebellion of the people. This is happening because the majority of people in Iraq believe that the U.S. is an occupying force. Whether or not this is true is beyond the perceived reality. General Casey said in a September 2005 Hearing, “the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency.” General Abizaid said on the same date, “Reducing the size and visibility of the coalition forces in Iraq is a part of our counterinsurgency strategy.”
So how do we take the wind out of the insurgencies sails? We tell the Iraqi people that we are leaving, and we tell them when. We give the Iraqi’s an end date to the occupation. Simply put, if there is no occuping force, then there will be no support for an insurgency. A recent ABC poll drew the conclusion that “while the lives of individual Iraqis are improving, over Two-thirds now oppose the presence of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, 14 points higher than in February 2004”
They want us to leave so why should we stay?
His obserations may surprise you.
February 24, 2006, 2:51 p.m.
It Didn’t Work
"I can tell you the main reason behind all our woes — it is America." The New York Times reporter is quoting the complaint of a clothing merchant in a Sunni stronghold in Iraq. "Everything that is going on between Sunni and Shiites, the troublemaker in the middle is America."
One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samara and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that “The bombing has completely demolished” what was being attempted — to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries. (Please select for entire article)
This post is not an attempt at, “I hate to say it but I told you so”. It’s more like a, “So where do we go from here?”
As I’ve said before, the only way that an insurgency will survive is by having the support of the masses. We have seen the Iraqi insurgence grow from a small elite group of foreigners and former soldiers, to a massive homegrown rebellion of the people. This is happening because the majority of people in Iraq believe that the U.S. is an occupying force. Whether or not this is true is beyond the perceived reality. General Casey said in a September 2005 Hearing, “the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency.” General Abizaid said on the same date, “Reducing the size and visibility of the coalition forces in Iraq is a part of our counterinsurgency strategy.”
So how do we take the wind out of the insurgencies sails? We tell the Iraqi people that we are leaving, and we tell them when. We give the Iraqi’s an end date to the occupation. Simply put, if there is no occuping force, then there will be no support for an insurgency. A recent ABC poll drew the conclusion that “while the lives of individual Iraqis are improving, over Two-thirds now oppose the presence of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, 14 points higher than in February 2004”
They want us to leave so why should we stay?
posted by Van at 4:30 AM
3 Comments:
Excellent point.
"Some missed the point that there are times when the truth is powerless in the face of belief. Facts can't always penetrate perception."
Couldn't that be said of those that demand there are no and never were WMDs in Iraq? Some may follow blindly, others go by facts. Yet even with the tapes of Saddam speaking of smuggling and records of things be taken from Iraq to Syria in the days up to the war... the left will refuse that WMDs existed.
I think you are using a little bit of a double standard when you use that expression.
Bush is determined to change their perceptions by sinking more money into propaganda, which will just lead to even more resentment. They aren't stupid and I think they can recognize propaganda as well as well can. Why wouldn't they?
Of course there were WMD in Iraq - in the early 1990s. We sold them a lot of them, so we know they were there. Then S.H. used some of them, and the rest either expired or were destroyed. Over 30 Iraqi nationals who live in the U.S. stated that to the U.S. government after they visited Iraq prior to the war; that the WMD were gone. It astounds me that some select few conservatives (not even Bush anymore) hang on to this "wish" that the WMDs were there (after inspectors and the CIA said they weren't) and that they somehow, undetected, made their
way to Syria with these phantom truckloads of deadly WMD.
There were WMDs in Iraq. Emphasis on WERE - it's like saying some U.S. citizens WERE once slave owners. We aren't NOW.
Anyway, since there is no longer any mission in Iraq, I can't think of a single reason to stay.
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