Comments on: Oh, That Sounds Promising

By: WOOD TURTLE

WOOD TURTLE — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 18:20:20 +0000

I cansee clearly now the rain is gone… All of the bad feelings have disappeared. Much love to you and yours

By: Luc

Luc — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:46:38 +0000

How about a decent civil administration? So that we don’t have to guess how many civilians die. Napoleon could do that at the end of the 18th century in Europe when he conquered a country, so it really that much to ask from the US today?

By: baa

baa — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 23:13:11 +0000

Hey, skeptical Iraq watchers, anyone care to define a result that, if it obtains in December of 2005, will make you say: “wow, those Bush guys really pulled it together!” I’m holding out for a functioning state, with elections held, and (most important) a security situation where Joe and Jane Iraqi can walk down the streets in 90% of the country without fear of kidnapping and random atrocities. Would that do?

By: John

John — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 10:36:55 +0000

Ah, but he’s not. If the strings of the military are pulled by a puppet whose strings are pulled by Bush, does it really count as military decisions being made by foreigners?

By: Sandriana

Sandriana — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 10:01:10 +0000

What baffles me is that US forces are apparently under the control of Allawi: hang on, wasn’t it Bush who said he would never let US military decisions be made by foreigners?

By: Zizka

Zizka — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 03:43:34 +0000

“around 1965-70”

By: Zizka

Zizka — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 03:39:48 +0000

Security services: I have a book somewhere which lists every use of the death penalty in Taiwan during a certain period (aroun 1965-10 I think, before democratization). The majority of the death penalties were to members of security services. Apparently there was either Communist infliltration or an ideological purge at some point.

By: Warbaby

Warbaby — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 01:25:49 +0000

There aren’t going to be any elections in Iraq. I thought that was obvious since last July. It will be more obvious later and it will be undeniable in January.

By: Jackmormon

Jackmormon — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 23:52:34 +0000

jonathan, on that note, i wonder what sort of communications networks the insurgents in fallujah have? “Shock and awe” was always aimed at information infrastructure (knock out leadership, take over airwaves and public places, etc.); if this time the information networks are decentralized, located in holy off-limits sites, or alreay divided into cells, the US can bomb and kill as much as they like, and the insurgency will still survive.

By: stuart

stuart — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 23:23:52 +0000

I imagine if any Muslim in the U.S. full stop that has any foresight over how the US policies towards terrorists are going to work going into the future they might be looking at moving to a place that is less likely to have them interred in concentration camps sometime in the next decade.

By: John

John — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 20:10:48 +0000

luc: Well, as a Pagan in the U.S. military, that makes me feel ever so much better about the likelihood of my religious preference getting the shaft in the military over the next few years. I imagine any Muslim in the U.S. military is looking for an exit door by now, if he’s smart.

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 18:52:16 +0000

Has anyone else noticed the similarity of the Fallujah attack plan to the original Iraq war plans? Pound by air for a while, then massive ground assault; overwhelming force. It worked OK once, though we stopped too early; it worked OK the second time, though the willingness of opposing forces to melt away instead of stand to be killed has produced… well, our current situation. Has anyone considered that this might not be a fantastic model for fighting a small, mobile and flexible force?

By: james

james — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 18:46:13 +0000

“i wonder what kind of campaign potential candidates can run during a ‘state of emergency’?” Yes, given that freedom of assembly is one of the rights which is to be suspended.

By: Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 17:36:38 +0000

The insurgent strategy is obvious and probably unstopable Since there are far too few American troops to hold down every area, concentrating against one region automatically leaves others open to attack. One can attempt to stretch resources by resorting to terroristic methods—that’s the usual historical pattern—but in the absence of sufficient force, blowing more Iraqis to bits at long range merely recruits new opponents and demonstrates the bankrupcy of the policy of conquest. Under the circumstances, arming the Iraqis as native auxillaries is likely to be counterproductive since these forces are already full of moles and none of them can be trusted. I’m sure many of the insurgents are already getting weapons through the training programs.

By: Luc

Luc — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 17:31:50 +0000

Faith-based violence is an aqcuired taste. A leader of one of Bushes security forces expressed it this way:

The marines that I have had wounded over the past five months have been attacked by a faceless enemy," said Colonel Brandl. "But the enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He lives in Falluja. And we're going to destroy him."