Trial Balloon for W's Cut-and-Run Strategy?

[hgc]

NC Republican wants Iraq pullout

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican and close ally of President Bush, says the United States should consider pulling out of war-ravaged Iraq.

Coble is one of the first members of Congress to suggest a withdrawal publicly.

The 10-term congressman said in an interview with the News & Record of Greensboro that he's "fed up with picking up the newspaper and reading that we've lost another five or 10 of our young men and women in Iraq."

...

He started getting "fed up" on November 3, 2004 I'd guess. And now let's see how Bush's political case for an Iraq pullout demonstrates much more thorough planning and skillful execution than the Iraq occupation ever enjoyed.

 

[Ladewig]

Silly rabbit, it is not going to be a cut-and-run strategy, it is going to be a we-won-and-now-we-are-going-home strategy. Don't forget, we are dealing with people who said that unexpected casualities were the result of our winning more quickly than we had planned.

 

[Nasarius]

He started getting "fed up" on November 3, 2004 I'd guess.

Perhaps. I don't know if it would get much support, though. Speaking as someone who has opposed the invasion from the beginning, I think pulling out now would be sheer insanity (not to mention blatantly selfish), as it would almost certainly lead to a civil war.

If it's serious, I think we'll hear rumblings about involving the UN again, and how Bush suddenly realized it might be a good idea. But I doubt it.

 

[geni]

Re: Re: Trial Balloon for W's Cut-and-Run Strategy?

Perhaps. I don't know if it would get much support, though. Speaking as someone who has opposed the invasion from the beginning, I think pulling out now would be sheer insanity (not to mention blatantly selfish), as it would almost certainly lead to a civil war.

So you are in the optomist camp. Want makes you think that any internal conflict in iraq will not draw the sourding countries into it?

If it's serious, I think we'll hear rumblings about involving the UN again, and how Bush suddenly realized it might be a good idea. But I doubt it.

Partly because the UN will not do anything. The collerlition started the mess so it's going to be up to us to sort it out.

 

[hammegk]

Opening salvo in selling the El Salvador option -- Iraqi's with SpecOps minders as we reduce US groundpounder levels & train Iraqis.

Syria here we come.

 

[hgc]

Opening salvo in selling the El Salvador option -- Iraqi's with SpecOps minders as we reduce US groundpounder levels & train Iraqis.

Hmmm. El Salvador never hosted U.S. troops, other than advisors and a few mercanaries. There wasn't a big commitment to cut and run from. But I am interested in what you think the similarities are.

Syria here we come.

Perchance does you winky-smiley mask a true lust for more military misadventures? You should try distracting to something a little more attractive.

 

[hammegk]

Hmmm. El Salvador never hosted U.S. troops, other than advisors and a few mercanaries. There wasn't a big commitment to cut and run from. But I am interested in what you think the similarities are.

Hit squads comprised of locals(with a few "advisors" & maybe a merc or 2), targeting insurgent leaders and facilities. Who was that Iraqi cleric with thousands of armed supporters? And why was he allowed the opportunity to become that organized?

The cut & run problem means Iraq is becoming a Vietnam style grass-roots insurgency, one that conventional troops do not win, and nope, the US is not going to keep losing men indefinitely imo.

However, 'nam had the Hanoi connection, one that was never touched. Bombing it into the stone-age would have made military sense in that supplies & reinforcements would have ceased.

Perchance does you winky-smiley mask a true lust for more military misadventures? You should try distracting to something a little more attractive.

Viola, Syria. Let's (in a SpecOps sense w/ an Iraqi face) go after comm & logistics.

 

[WildCat]

Hmmm... I cvould read the link hgc provided when I first clicked it, now they want me to register. But I think it said we should consider a pullout if the Iraqi's are unwilling to let their own security forces do what is necessary to put down the Sunni rebellion. Could be this is meant as a warning to the winners of the election that the coalition isn't willing to do the job all by themselves, and they'd better get serious about taking on the insurgency. Right now, some of the Iraqi's in power are trying to have it both ways, blame the coalition for the security situation but don't take the political risks inherent in taking on the insurgency.

 

[hgc]

Hmmm... I cvould read the link hgc provided when I first clicked it, now they want me to register. But I think it said we should consider a pullout if the Iraqi's are unwilling to let their own security forces do what is necessary to put down the Sunni rebellion. Could be this is meant as a warning to the winners of the election that the coalition isn't willing to do the job all by themselves, and they'd better get serious about taking on the insurgency. Right now, some of the Iraqi's in power are trying to have it both ways, blame the coalition for the security situation but don't take the political risks inherent in taking on the insurgency.

OK. Now I'm starting to get a vision of how Bush's propagandabots will frame the argument: If the Iraqi government isn't willing to take on their responsibility, then the civil war to come will have been their fault.

 

[hgc]

Here's a link to another story on Coble, no registration required.

 

[Ed]

OK. Now I'm starting to get a vision of how Bush's propagandabots will frame the argument: If the Iraqi government isn't willing to take on their responsibility, then the civil war to come will have been their fault.

Orielly has been suggesting that the Iraqi's will not defend them selves and won't pull their own weight for some time now. It is a short step from that suggestion to saying "see, we tried but these ballsless bastards don't want it badly enough". I can hear the spin now.

OTOH

If it is a no-win, what else can be done?

 

[Eleatic Stranger]

El Salvador never hosted U.S. troops, other than advisors and a few mercanaries. There wasn't a big commitment to cut and run from. But I am interested in what you think the similarities are.

This isn't precisely a similarity, but it's far from irrelevant...

 

[geni]

OTOH

If it is a no-win, what else can be done?

That rather depends on what your aims really are.

 

[Anathema]

All the new Iraq Security Forces need to do to "put down the insurgency" is re-implement the measures that have historically kept that cauldron stable. I'm sure Saddam's playbooks are still lying around, and the US has provided an updated model for the handling of dissidents; bringing Hussein's venerable Abu Ghraib into the 21st century under new management. Welcome to living by the sword...

 

[Daylight]

What if we just nuked the Sunni triangle? Wouldn’t that get the point across both internally and externally? And let the spin doctors say it appears the insurgents set it off on accident because they don’t know how to handle nuclear weapons.

 

[Zep]

If Bush's Barmy Boosters decide to make a strategic reassignment of currently deployed military personnel from Iraq to their home bases, they had better do it soon. This one is a no-win situation, so if the Repubs don't want to be on the nose forever after, better to do it early in a lame-duck president's term and give the proles 3-4 years to forget it happened.

 

[geni]

What if we just nuked the Sunni triangle? Wouldn’t that get the point across both internally and externally? And let the spin doctors say it appears the insurgents set it off on accident because they don’t know how to handle nuclear weapons.

Neutralising the major threat to kurds in Iraq may not be a great idea after all that just leaves turkey.

There are a number of options from the occupiers hand book for this situation:

Play the groups off against each other. Right now the sunnis are a problem so start a civil war and back the other groups. If these get two popwerful switch to backing the sunnis.

Let the local power sturctures form undewr the mullars or whatever and move in on top of them. Sure you don't have as much control this way and you may run into the odd leader you can't control but tghis is nothing the odd assination a mess with the internal politics can't sort out.

Kill anyone who looks like oposing you and anyone standing near them. Don't imprsion them that never seems to work out in the long run.

find a meme that is strongar than islam and play the two off against each other (this one is really not a good idea in the long term).


Sure this may not play to well with the people at home but that is nothing that can't be solved by cultivating a bit of raceism.

 

[a_unique_person]

Orielly has been suggesting that the Iraqi's will not defend them selves and won't pull their own weight for some time now. It is a short step from that suggestion to saying "see, we tried but these ballsless bastards don't want it badly enough". I can hear the spin now.

OTOH

If it is a no-win, what else can be done?

He was saying the same thing about the Vietnamese. He is the lowest form of filth.

 

[Ed]

If Bush's Barmy Boosters decide to make a strategic reassignment of currently deployed military personnel from Iraq to their home bases, they had better do it soon. This one is a no-win situation, so if the Repubs don't want to be on the nose forever after, better to do it early in a lame-duck president's term and give the proles 3-4 years to forget it happened.

or be prepared to say "Yes, Madame President".

And, this concern is, I wager, more important to them than any concept of Iraqi "democracy". Surely that is smething that we can all agree on.

 

[Ed]

That rather depends on what your aims really are.

The aim is, I wager, to prevent Hillary from getting elected in 'o8.