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November 23, 2007
Iraq's Savage Ironies
Below is a fine article by Victor Davis Hanson, in which he brings much needed military/historical perspective to the war in Iraq.
Recently, at a Shabbos lunch, I had a discussion with a friend about Iraq. My friend, sputtering in fury, claimed to have turned a corner against President Bush because of how poorly the war has been handled. I asked my friend if he felt that Eisenhower and his generals had done a good job in North Africa?
My friend shrugged, “Pretty good.”
He had not a clue as to the series of blunders made by the Americans, tactical and strategic, in North Africa, nor the terrible toll in lives through poor planning, especially in airborne operations.
There is a learning curve in all wars, I explained, terrible as it is, and in this conflict with jihadists, the U.S. army, outfitted and trained for traditional war, must adjust to Fourth Generation combat. It's a huge change. And General Petraeus and his Colonels have done a magnificent job.
“Well, why didn't Bush do it earlier?” My friend shot back angrily.
“There were other generals in the way. Some of them real turkeys. The army is an unforgiving bureaucracy.”
Dripping with sarcasm: “Well, you're more forgiving than I am.”
“No, I just live in the real world.”
My friend went on to attack the corruption in Iraq.
I said that far worse went on in the Civil War. “Unfortunately war draws out the the best and worst in men.”
“There was no corruption in World War II,” my friend assured me. “Harry Truman made sure of that.”
I looked at my soup.
I went: “Uh-huh.”
There is no dialog with dirt ignorance.
The war in Iraq — as all wars — is fraught with savage ironies.
In the build-up to the invasion, anti-Americanism in Europe reached a near frenzy. It was whipped up by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and evoked warnings of an eternal split in the Atlantic Alliance. If Iraq had proved a catalyst for this expression of near hatred — fueled by long-standing angers and envies — it soon, however, proved to be a catharsis as well.
Both leaders overplayed their hands when the U.S. had already begun downsizing its NATO deployments in Germany. Elsewhere, Europeans started to have second thoughts about alienating America at a time of rising Russian belligerency, and suffered from increased worry over radical Islamic terrorists at home and abroad.
The result is that their successors, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, are staunchly pro-American in ways their previous governments were not, even well before the Iraq War. And given the increased jihadist threats to Europe, worries about Iran, and the consistency of the U.S. effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, these governments may well have learned — in a way they did not anticipate in 2003 — that there really is no other ally like a steadfast United States, in these unstable times.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend from the Great White North, A. Mark David, Q.C.
Karen and I wish all our friends a beautiful and profound miracle in Shabbat.
And let's not forget Project Valor-IT Veteran's Day Fundraiser, to provide voice-activated lap-top computers to injured and disabled veterans. Please donate generously. This is a very important tzedakah, charity.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at November 23, 2007 09:04 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
A good book that deals indirectly with the inevitable corruption in Iraq is William Gibson's Spook Country. It's a combination mystery and light thriller, and is written in a relaxed style that I found hugely entertaining. (So far as I know, it's his first non-cyberpunk offering, although there is plenty of new-tech sprinkled throughout.)
Posted by: kishke at November 23, 2007 10:48 AM
Kishke:
Inevitable.
Indeed. My friend, like so many on the other side of the aisle, are, at heart, utopians, fantasists.
In short, truly dangerous people for they withdraw from grim reality into a world of constructed illusion. This always allows brutes and tyrants to step in and rule.
Okay, speech over. I've just ordered the Gibson book. Look forward to some non-punk fiction.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 23, 2007 11:02 AM
" ... The war in Iraq — as all wars — is fraught with savage ironies..."
one of the greatest ironies is something that the liberal left refuses to, or cannot, come to grips with,
is that the US fights 'decently'
while the insurgents fight 'cowardly' without regard for loss of innocent life
if the US were not constrained by its incomparably higher morality and ethics,
the war could have been over within a month or two,
by simply destroying all areas of resistance independent of how many innocents would be killed
(the way that the terrorists have done, continue to do, and would love to do more violently)
the fact that the war has gone on so long,
should be viewed as an HONORABLE TRIBUTE
to the morality and goodness of American troops,
willing to risk life and limb,
rather than kill the innocent together with the guilty
it is despicable that our enemies view such 'Honor' as a 'weakness' to be exploited,
and even more tragic,
that the left continues to support them ...
Posted by: exdemexlib at November 23, 2007 11:29 AM
There were of course a large number of mistakes and even debacles during WWII--the torpedos that wouldn't explode being one example that comes to mind. And there was certainly corruption and selfishness--I would think that self-identified intellectuals would be familiar with Arthur Miller's play "All My Sons," about a manufacturer who knowingly sold defective cylinder heads for military aircraft. (The play was based, IIRC, on an actual incident.)
Posted by: david foster at November 23, 2007 12:25 PM
Thanks for posting the Hanson article and for the hat-tip.
By the way - the Rick Atkinson book "An Army at Dawn" chronicles the problems in the North African campaign - the 2nd book of the trilogy has just been released.
Shabbat Shalom from the Great White North.
Posted by: Mark at November 23, 2007 12:55 PM
Exdem:
Good points. Of course we correctly demanded unconditional surrenders from Germany and Japan and got it after bombing their civilian centers back to "the stone age" in the words of General Curtis LeMay. Of course that's why WWII ended in four years. And of course why the Iraq war and the war on terrorism will have no such end.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 23, 2007 02:32 PM
David:
I just gave up on the conversation because my friend was just filled with fury and ignorance, a deadly combination. I was dealing with grim reality, he couldn't care less. He kept saying: Bush should have known! The line in the sand just kept moving. Some arguments are fruitless. I decided to enjoy my chicken soup.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 23, 2007 02:36 PM
Mark:
Funny you should reference Atkinson's fine volumes. I read volume One and I'm in the middle of Volume Two and so all the debacles of North Africa are fresh in my memory. My friend is truly clueless of all the terrible cases of fratricide among the allies, the dreadful glider attacks that were absolutely suicidal, and the infighting between the British and American generals that led to strategic blunders and terrible casualties.
Now, our armed services are far more professional.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 23, 2007 02:43 PM
If Truman is still alive, he would be branded a war criminal by leftists for his decision to nuke Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
Posted by: pixologic at November 24, 2007 12:03 PM
Pixologic:
Excellent point. Need to have you at the Shabbos table next time. Ooops, Karen and I won't be invited. We're, get this, fascists.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 24, 2007 05:57 PM