Saturday, August 19, 2006
'That miracle hasn't happened'
A pretty good analysis of the Iraq war goals and reality can be found here, by a commentator on Andrew's site. It's absurd to think Cheney and Rumsfeld, as previously suggested, might have deliberatey sabotaged democratic nation building in Iraq. But it's not at all 'out-there' to suggest that they believed democratic nation building probably wouldn't work and didn't put their heart into it. The evidence is overwhelming that Rumsfeld yanked reconstruction away from State, blocked any meaningful UN contribution to the effort (despite Tony Blair's urgings to the contrary), hoped to install Chalabi ASAP and envisioned drawing down troops within months after the initial invasion. Add in the pathetic lack of any substantial post-invasion planning and throw in the fact hapless Jay Garner was given his occupation-adminstrative job only weeks before the invasion with precious little resources or funds, and you have a strong case to make for A.) Incompetence B.) Negligence C.) Complacency or D.) A., B. and C. ...
I find it curious Andrew, a big pro-war Bush cheerleader before the war, is only pondering this now. I also find it typical that Glenn criticizes the critics when they clearly overstep in their criticism -- but then turns his attention back to easy media bashing without further critical analysis of the war. But make one thing clear: The media was largely right in its analysis of a steadily deteriorating situation in Iraq. ...
... Now here's the big question few (except for WFB and George Will) are asking/suggesting often enough: Was it realistic -- enough troops or not, planning or no planning -- to think we could transform a society like Iraq into a stable democracy? You have to ask yourself when you see all the violent tribal and religious factions now duking it out in Iraq. ... A Wobbly Warrior going into the war, I'm still a Wobbly Warrior about not conceding defeat. Abandoning Iraq at this time would be a disaster. But we really do need fresh thinking and approaches toward Iraq. The way we got into this war stunk -- and occupation efforts have stunk. Can we agree on that? Probably not. ... Now I'm harping on the issue like Andrew. I guess I'm having my own guilt/cover-my-tracks moment for having wobbly backed the war without giving enough thought to a lot of issues. I was a critical They're Botching It Hawk pre-war. That provides some solace. But not a lot. ...
A pretty good analysis of the Iraq war goals and reality can be found here, by a commentator on Andrew's site. It's absurd to think Cheney and Rumsfeld, as previously suggested, might have deliberatey sabotaged democratic nation building in Iraq. But it's not at all 'out-there' to suggest that they believed democratic nation building probably wouldn't work and didn't put their heart into it. The evidence is overwhelming that Rumsfeld yanked reconstruction away from State, blocked any meaningful UN contribution to the effort (despite Tony Blair's urgings to the contrary), hoped to install Chalabi ASAP and envisioned drawing down troops within months after the initial invasion. Add in the pathetic lack of any substantial post-invasion planning and throw in the fact hapless Jay Garner was given his occupation-adminstrative job only weeks before the invasion with precious little resources or funds, and you have a strong case to make for A.) Incompetence B.) Negligence C.) Complacency or D.) A., B. and C. ...
I find it curious Andrew, a big pro-war Bush cheerleader before the war, is only pondering this now. I also find it typical that Glenn criticizes the critics when they clearly overstep in their criticism -- but then turns his attention back to easy media bashing without further critical analysis of the war. But make one thing clear: The media was largely right in its analysis of a steadily deteriorating situation in Iraq. ...
... Now here's the big question few (except for WFB and George Will) are asking/suggesting often enough: Was it realistic -- enough troops or not, planning or no planning -- to think we could transform a society like Iraq into a stable democracy? You have to ask yourself when you see all the violent tribal and religious factions now duking it out in Iraq. ... A Wobbly Warrior going into the war, I'm still a Wobbly Warrior about not conceding defeat. Abandoning Iraq at this time would be a disaster. But we really do need fresh thinking and approaches toward Iraq. The way we got into this war stunk -- and occupation efforts have stunk. Can we agree on that? Probably not. ... Now I'm harping on the issue like Andrew. I guess I'm having my own guilt/cover-my-tracks moment for having wobbly backed the war without giving enough thought to a lot of issues. I was a critical They're Botching It Hawk pre-war. That provides some solace. But not a lot. ...
