A War We Just Might Win

[Tladatsi]

Upon some very positive news from former war critics, MICHAEL E. O’HANLON and KENNETH M. POLLACK, A War We Just Might Win, I'm curious how this makes you feel. Many top Democrats have indicated that they feel this is bad news for their party. Among them is House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D). Senator Russ Feingold stated that he wouldn't believe Gen. Petraeus no matter what he says in September. But I'd like to think most democrats would be encouraged by this report. It's okay to be skeptical, but would a victory in Iraq be your top desire? Seems for many democratic politicians it is not. What say you?

Here is an interesting op-ed piece. It is not so much of a counter-point of content, although there is that, but of approach. This fellow offers some real details and assessments that were not made from the bubble that O'Hanlon & Pollack operated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...d=opinionsbox2

How do you fight that war? It is not a question of enough guns or tanks, "giving the soldiers what they need", there is just no way to fight that kind of war.

[Tladatsi]

Here is an interesting op-ed piece. It is not so much of a counter-point of content, although there is that, but of approach. This fellow offers some real details and assessments that were not made from the bubble that O'Hanlon & Pollack operated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...d=opinionsbox2

How do you fight that war? It is not a question of enough guns or tanks, "giving the soldiers what they need", there is just no way to fight that kind of war.

The link has been changed, it is now...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080601163.html

[Jim_Casy]

A War We Just Might Win

Where's Rando and the other consistent-life folk? I find it disturbing that the Christians on this thread are even accepting the notion of a "winnable" war. Even a "just war" is a tragedy, and this tragedy doesn't fit any criteria of a "just war" I've ever seen.

And who's this "we" who "might win"? Some artificial "we", constituted by the cheerleaders of Caesar, I'm sure.

[Der Kanzler]

Disregard that.

*really needs to check thread dates before posting*

[roadwalker]

The President announced yesterday that all troops will be home by the end of the year.

Hard to see how this is a 'win.' At best, a Pyrrhic victory.

We are leaving Iraq with a government friendly to Iran, in fact one in which Moqtada al-Sadr holds more power than anyone except the Prime Minister (who is dependent on al-Sadr for his ability to govern at all.) Iran has essentially a free hand in Iraq, and its former Badr militia are now the core of the Iraqi army.

If there is any democracy at all, it is very disfunctional (look at what came out of the last election, when the winner became the loser because al-Sadr decided to make it so.) Half the population (the female half) actually have less rights in matters like divorce, inheritance and custody than they had even under Saddam, and the Constitution begins with the phrase "Sharia shall be a source of law" which the parliament has acted on with enthusiasm, writing Islamist laws to replace the secular ones. Women who have not gone along with the new restrictions placed on them have been killed. Not surprisingly in such an environment tens of thousands of Christians, a community that dates back to the very early church, have had to flee the country and nobody has done anything to prevent it.

In exchange for this rather dubious outcome, we fought for eight years (longer than we fought in World War II and Korea put together,) paid a trillion dollars of borrowed money (which is now part of the debt that everyone is wringing their hands about) and lost more than 4,000 Americans (with tens of thousands crippled or suffering from chronic conditions.)

How does that in any way, shape or form, qualify as a 'win?'

If anybody 'won' the Iraq war,. it's Iran, and they did it without firing a shot.

I'm just glad we are out of there.