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Quote by: slevin Do we really need a repeat lesson of Vietnam? |
i believe that's exactly what has been going on since the start of the war.. it was a war based on lies, a war of choice, a war where u.s. soldiers were placed in the middle of a civil war, a war with no clear objective, etc., etc... this war is a repeat lesson of vietnam, which was a bogus war that too far too long to end.
also, this surge is not the military's brainchild - it's bush's... too many military leaders publicly voiced opposition to bush's "surge" for any rational person to believe that this policy wasn't bush's idea. the military is focused on three things as far as i can tell - extending tours to ensure that it can support bush's war, minimizing u.s. casualties, and doing what the "commander in chief" says... regarding the latter, if the white house wants to pursue a policy of debaathification, capturing iranian diplomats, capturing iraqis off the street for "interrogation", etc. - the military will do what it's told.
you also mention that the full escalation force hasn't yet arrived.. true - and additionally, the extra battery of patriot missiles and the extra aircraft carrier battlegroup haven't been put in place either.. the
uss nimitz left its port at san diego just a few days ago.. i'm definitely interested to see how patriot missiles and the extra CSG is going to combat the insurgency...
but i digress... even with these some 2/5 of the troops in place, i'm not particularly impressed by the "progress" highlighted by the links i posted at the start of the thread.. civilian deaths increased this past month. that is hardly what i'd call progress.
i also don't see any progress with regard to u.s. casualties.. the spin-doctors, like mccain, say that u.s. casualties are down compared to previous months. no disagreement there, of course, march has historically been a low month as far as casualties are concerned. the trend is clear as day:
iCasualties: OIF US Fatalities by month
and, going by the average number of casualties from march 2003 to march 2006, this past month has resulted in roughly double the number of u.s. casualties...
like i said, this babble about "progress" has no factual support at all. it's just another exercise in spewing propaganda and hoping that a mentally lazy u.s. public (and media) buys into it - just as they did when bush claimed iraq had wmd's and active wmd programs.