Veteran and freelance embed Michael Yon’s latest, as always, is worth the read:
"With nearly 35 years of continuous military service, Mellinger is the senior most active duty draftee; yet he cruises Iraq like an infantryman. More than 3,000 of our people have been killed in combat here, but if it weren’t for this type of leadership, found in commands throughout Iraq, that number might be 10,000."
In Bush’s coming speech Wednesday we’ll learn whether he finally has the will to do what he should already have done, i.e. taken the war to Iran, Syria and, if they don’t stop sending money and volunteers to Iraq’s Sunni insurgency, Saudi Arabia. Or not. He’s made so little effort in the past four years to explain himself and his strategy, popping up every three months or so to make another speech, then disappearing again for another three months, that serious change doesn’t seem to be in him. Apparently he’s just going to shuffle the commanders around and send a token 10,000 more troops to Iraq for "a push," which will be inconsequential in the long run. It will just give the bad guys more American targets to shoot at and bomb, while Iraq’s neighbors keep undermining Iraq and us. Debka sees hope for more than a token effort. But Debka always sees more, whether it materializes or not. For one thing, Debka has the Stennis carrier strike group already headed for the Persian Gulf when the Navy says it won’t leave until late this month. So far, we haven’t even had the sense to arrest or kill Mookie Sadr and put his Shiite militia out of business. Bush might as well bring the troops home, or shuffle some to Afghanistan, where Iran and Pakistan can go on undermining the effort there. Not that I think the Dems have anything more to offer than retreat. Wretchard says what we really need is the will to win. The bitterly divided populace plainly doesn’t have it. It’s becoming apparent that even the leadership doesn’t. Not even 9/11 could produce it, and it remains to be seen if even a second 9/11 would do it. Though we may get the chance to find out.
Comments Off on W’s last stand
Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Afghanistan, Bush, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Democrats already are calling the proposed surge of troops into Iraq "an escalation," reiving the terms of Vietnam. But apparently Bush’s coming speech about what a surge would mean will turn on some aspect of this "secret plan" captured with the Iranians of recent days–who were, then, incredibly, let go.
Omar at Iraq the Model is astounded that anyone would think that the plan’s disclosure of Iranian and Syrian cooperation with the Sunni insurgents and the Shia death squads is unusual:
"This war is different from conventional wars; networks of terror and their relationships with their supporting regimes and the manner in which they work are complex and different than those of conventional enemies and this situation necessitates that our ways evolve and adjust accordingly."
Meanwhile, the Navy says a second carrier battle group for the Persian Gulf won’t leave Washington until later this month. Perhaps it’s just another empty show of force. Or perhaps Bush has finally decided to do something about Syria and Iran, the latter hinting that its bomb will be ready by March 20.
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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Iran, Iraq, Persian Gulf, Sunni Shia cooperation, Syria, The Long War
Historian Victor Davis Hanson returns from Iraq dreaming of the emergence of an American general capable of more than midnight assignations with the MSM for anonymous complaints:
"The traveler to Iraq is struck not by dearth, but opulence—everything imaginable from new SUVs to Eskimo Pies. Internet Service there was far faster than from my home in rural Fresno County…Somewhere in the US military right now is a Grant, Sherman, Patton, Ridgeway, or Abrams…Now is the time to let them come forward—as they have always arisen from obscurity in past American wars when their nation’s hour of need has come."
A good read in which history offers more hope than the shoulda, coulda, woulda war hearings the Dems are about to begin.
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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Afghanistan, Iraq, The Long War, Victor Davis Hanson
From StrategyPage:
"Without much fanfare, much less a press release, the [Iraqi] government and Coalition troops have gone to war with Moqtada al Sadr’s Madhi Army militia. Leaders are being arrested or killed. The raids are being carried out with overwhelming speed and force, so that pro-Sadr gunmen have little chance to put up effective resistance."
General Abizaid told Congress last year things would start to turn around by February.
Comments Off on About time
Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Iraq, Moqtada al Sadr's militia, StrategyPage
President Bush, who lately seems to be dithering, welcomes the new Congress in Opinion Journal, with a warning for the party most identified with retreat:
"If democracy fails and the extremists prevail in Iraq, America’s enemies will be stronger, more lethal, and emboldened by our defeat. Leaders in both parties understand the stakes in this struggle. We now have the opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war."
He also notes that Republicans will get their say in anything the Dems seek to pass, and he has a veto to use, if necessary. Tough stuff.
Comments Off on A welcome and a warning
Tagged Democrats, Iraq, new Congress, President Bush
J.R. Salzman, a different kind of active-duty milblogger, the kind who was wounded by an IED in Iraq:
"I’m here at Walter Reed and I’m doing OK. I have surgery pretty much every other day. They are trying to close up my amputated right arm/hand, and they are repairing the smashed knuckles on my left hand. I’m in a lot of pain and it is making it hard to sleep and do normal tasks. It’s going to take a long time to learn how to do everything over again."
His wife is doing the typing now, as he has just three fingers left. Going to be worth reading, so bookmark it.
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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged IED, Iraq, J.R. Saltzman, Walter Reed
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 