Victory in Iraq is Dependant on a Unified America

Our failures in Iraq are owned by the entire government, congress, the military and the American people – it’s not just about the commander-in-chief. Its about a congress (both democrat and republican) who has controlled the purse strings and shortchanged the warrior since Vietnam, its about a SecDef that didn’t understand how the blood and the mud fit into operational art, its about the generals who were more concerned with their pensions than throwing their stars on the President’s desk in protest of a flawed planning process, and its about a country who’s people lament our failure while remaining completely ignorant about warfare, unwavering in their commitment to armchair quarterback our nation toward ultimate defeat.

Two timeless lessons of Vietnam are being ignored:

1) Wining the political struggle in Washington doesn’t win wars and

2) Undermining the national will is the strategic objective of our enemy; it’s the only way they can defeat the US military on the battlefield.

The Congress doesn't have a clue how to fight a war. The Administration doesn't have a clue how to fight an insurgency. The SecDef was looking for a "Revolution in Military Affairs" as his legacy. The American people don't understand why we need to fight. The only people that should be in charge of making decisions on how to win in Iraq are the people in the Military. Not some skinny fucker who was a Lieutenant JG, looking at fuck books while on his swift boat back in the NAM. Not some “hero” that flew a Navy Jet for a while got shot down and spent 7 years as a POW. Neither of them knows jack shit about strategy or operational art. It should be the guys who really make the decisions. They guys who have gone to school, practiced, rehearsed the plays and know when and how to kill effectively and efficiently.

I heard a great commentary on NPR a couple weeks ago from an Army Ranger (enlisted) that was now at Yale. He went off about how his classmates continuously bemoan the administration and history for sending the poor kids to war while the rich kids get away with it. His response - the poor kids fight because the rich kids refuse to. Rich and republican are not synonymous and Democrats need to stop shoveling the BS.

When people hop up and down and say "Bush won't even give those guys body armor and the stuff to fight with" I want ot punch them in the mouth. For anyone in congress to imply such bullshit is a straight up lie. They know exactly why those guys don't have their shit - it's because congress didn't buy it for them. The Republican Party doesn't spend the money, the entire congress does. The "toys" that we have today were all bought 10-12 years ago. One of the most fucked up things about our military technology procurement process is that we are forced to guess what we will need 10-15 years in the future and how those technologies will emerge as legacy budget items. Then we go to congress, ask them to fund it they approve it and the President signs it into law.

Add the politics to the pot and stir. What you get is barbequed pork. And it ain't blue or red - it's just brown and tastes like shit.

Giving a Senator or LCPL Binotz any credibility when it comes to military strategy and operational art is like putting the valedictorian of a high school in charge of a multinational corporation. He might be smart, dedicated and a great kid, but there is no fucking way he's going to be able to run a company in the real world tomorrow.

I just get pissed at the political vodo. Democrats need to stop trying to dismantle our national will in hopes of winning in “oh-ate.” Its making a tough fight in Iraq even harder.

The bottom line according to Capt Crunch (me) - if we all supported this war, we would have won it two years ago. Sure Rummy was an idiot. Sure the Generals should have stood up for a better plan. Sure we should have had more troops on the ground. Sure we should not have hamstrung the intelligence community after the fall of the Soviet Union. Sure, hindsight is 20/20.

And guess what, we had the same "debacle" in 1942 in North Africa. That's why FDR had a strangle hold on information coming out of the theater. That's why propaganda was so important. He knew if the American people found out that 7000 Americans died as a result of ineptitude, incompetence and inadequate training, he and Ike would loose their jobs. He also knew that his military wasn't stupid; they just didn't have the first idea how to fight the Germans and the revolutionary tactics of maneuver warfare. He knew they needed time to learn and that the knowledge would be paid for with the blood of American sons and fathers. He knew that every single death would save countless more on the European continent because we would learn how to fight the Germans and win; or the war would be over as we were defeated.

It doesn't matter what any of those turncoat motherfuckers who backed the war on the floor of the senate and baulk at our policy say now. They don't have a plan now, they didn't have any brilliant insight 4 years ago and they are just as responsible for the situation as the President, SecDef and the Generals.

Here's the thing - we would have lost every single war in our nation's history if we didn't fight to win. Fighting to win means supporting each other as a nation, not trying to derail the policies of a sitting President because you feel like you got screwed in 2000. Fighting to win means doing everything possible to make sure our enemies don't win, not leaking classified memos that derail the relationship between two nations in peril. Fighting to win means uniting the American people to crush those murdering religious fanatics that oppose us on the Arab street. Fighting to win means taking the gloves off and fighting a war, not pussy footing around the fragile sensibilities of the squeamish.

Fuck those guys. Their bullshit is getting my friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the last point I will make is this – if our leaders in congress and the people of this country didn’t understand that this war would last for decades they don’t understand history or warfare. Even after receiving the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers in 1945, our troops remain in Japan and Germany - 61 years later.

We can win this thing if the American people and congress let us do our jobs and quit all the political posturing bullshit and start being Americans first.

Semper Fidelis.

Comments

[andrew]

i enjoy your insights. i hope a lot more people start following your blog. more info from you and your friends in iraq is what this country needs to hear. i posted your article on a forum i frequent. it was a hit.

[Mike Hendrickson]

Andrew,
Thanks for the post and for supporting my blog!

Semper Fidelis