Capitalism

[Kirkland Laing]

Military success is measured by two things. Killing of the enemy and the ability to take and hold terrain. There is no terrain in Iraq that the US military couldn't take and hold at will and comparing the body count is absurd. Our military cannot help that there was no defined mission or end state. Nor is their fault that even though 400K + soldiers were asked for they got 150K for the invasion. You seem to confuse errors by the Bush administration as synonymous with military failure. More importantly as you already mentioned by echoing what I had already said body count does not equal winning in an asymmetric war. There is no military solution in Iraq or any country with an active insurgency. That being said considering the crappy card the military was dealt going into Iraq it has performed tremendously. Sunni Arabs turned from AQI in tremendous numbers b/c of the great counter-insurgent policies implemented by the Marines in the Anbar province. They drove a wedge between the populace and the terrorist as per doctrine. Seeing the number of its tribe being massacred by terrorist acts and the number dying from direct engagements with Americans as well as a self imposed political isolation I'd say they made a pretty good choice. The US footed the payroll b/c the process of getting the Maliki gov't to pay up would have taken forever(it just did in the past year). I really love how SOFA, elections not run by the US and Iraq controlling their own oil is a bad thing. Does it matter if Bush got his hand forced on these issues? Are they not what should have happened? Stick to finances Kirk..Your out of your element

There wasn't any territory the US copuldn't take in the Vietnam battlezones but they still ended up being kicked out. Vietnam wasn't a military success for the US and neither was Iraq. Insurgencies can be beat and the US tried and failed in Iraq. And no matter how you try to rewrite history the fact is that America put Al Quaeda people on the payroll. The official line fed to the American people was, as almost everything else they were told about Iraq, bs. And on every level, from national to overarching strategy, the US got its arse kicked.

Being able to take and hold territory is irrelevant and out-Saddaming Saddam by killing lots of people was just counterproductive, something even the Bush administration eventually worked out. And SOFA, the elections run by other people and the Iraqis controlling their own oil were all second choices by the Bush administration, the last thing they wanted to happen. Bush fought for months and years to avoid doing all three things but eventually had to bend to the Ayatollahs' will and agree to do what they wanted.

It's actually quite anti-American of you to excuse and explain away massive failure like this. It's this kind of emporer/no clothes situation that's becoming more and more prevalent in the US, with disastrous choices by the country's leaders not discussed or excused and lied about. Creating a bubble around the elite so that even when they screw things up for the country they get excused and even lauded for it is the quickest way for empires to crumble and fade away.



Ex-insurgents Want More Money, or Else

July 25, 2008
AFP


The Iraqi officer leading a U.S.-financed anti-jihadist group is in no mood for small talk -- either the military gives him more money or he will pack his bags and rejoin the ranks of al-Qaeda.
"I'll go back to al-Qaeda if you stop backing the Sahwa (Awakening) groups," Col. Satar tells U.S. Lt. Matthew McKernon, as he tries to secure more funding for his men to help battle the anti-U.S. insurgents.
Most members of the Awakening groups are Sunni Arab former insurgents who themselves fought American troops under the al-Qaeda banner after the fall of the regime of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Some, like Satar, had served in Saddam's army before joining Al-Qaeda. Others were members of criminal gangs before deciding to fight the insurgents, with the backing of the U.S. military.
They earn around 300 dollars a month and their presence at checkpoints and on patrol has become an essential component of the U.S.-led coalition's strategy to restore order in the war-wracked country.
"I like my work," said Satar, who is in charge of security south of Baquba in Iraq's eastern Diyala province.
According to McKernon Satar has a contract with the U.S. military to employ 230 men "but he has more than 300" under his command, which is why he wants more money to keep them happy.
The U.S. military knows perfectly well that many people joined Awakening groups simply because it was a good way to make money, and that if the cashflow dries up some would not hesitate to return to al-Qaeda.



Ex-insurgents Want More Money, or Else