The American Spectator

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(Page 3 of 15)

p>There is one thing the Iraqi government could do which, I believe, would change the entire dynamic. That would be to give every adult citizen a pro rata share of ownership in the national oil resources, and an annual dividend check -- much as Alaska does. Doing so would give Iraqis a real stake in their country's future. Of course, that is not a military solution and is not something Bush could impose on a sovereign nation. br> -- GnuCarSmell br> Jacksonville, Texas /p>

Quin, I couldn't have said this better but I must take a small exception with the choice of Grant as a successful example of military leadership. Grant was a butcher at best and had he had to work with the same limitations the Southern generals had, he would have lost more often than not.

In general, the North enjoyed a 3-5 to 1 advantage in manpower, material and finances throughout the entire war effort. In Lee and Stonewall Jackson's most famous victory, Chancellorsville, the North enjoyed a 2 to 1 advantage. It was rare for the South to even approach parity on the battlefield. Add to this that the North lost a lot more men than the South and had a lot better medical services than the South. Grant's performance at the Battle of the Cold Harbor in 1864 typifies his frontal assault butcher type tactics. He took 7000 causalities in the first 20 minutes and wanted to do it again. That his general staff and entire army refused to have a second go at assaulting dug in Confederates at Cold Harbor speaks to his tendency to just push pieces on a map rather than use his superior forces to out maneuver, cut off and overwhelm a vastly inferior force. Anyone can win with 2-3 to 1 advantage in manpower and material over 4 years time period. His men did the fighting and dying; He just had the courage to take reckless risks with their lives.

p>It isn't so much the lack of aggressiveness of our current generals as the lack of combat infantry forces and material support from this Nation that drives our results in the War on Terror and Iraq. The people in charge know how long it takes to build and train the forces they have and simply will not engage in a war of attrition like Grant did given the limited force levels they have at hand. Grant was the best Lincoln could get out of the Northern Blue State forces. Stonewall Jackson would have crushed him with equal forces. We need more combat infantry forces and people in charge that these forces will rally behind. We need to be the meanest dog on the block where we place our footprint. Not another Ulysses S. Grant please. br> -- Thom Bateman br> Newport News, Virginia /p>

I would like to say that Mr. Hillyer's article is not only timely, but very much spot on. Unfortunately, the truth lies elsewhere.

First, this article would have been timely 2 years ago or so. That is when the Bush administration started showing signs that they wanted a more politically correct war. There should have been, in fact, a deluge of articles coming from the political right pointing out the extreme impropriety of the "Mission Accomplished" speech and photo op on the aircraft carrier. Wasn't there a single adult in the White House that would stand up and tell little Georgie that this was not the thing to do?

But no, the political right was totally consumed with defending El Presidente against all the "unfair" attacks from the mean old Dems. Once again the GOP stepped back and waited to see what the Dems' take on the speech would be, and then came out strong against that. Nevertheless, that was the time to be issuing the advice contained in the latest article by Mr. Hillyer.

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