The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Surge to Victory

1.16.07 @ 12:01AM

WAR AND SACRIFICE
Re: Philip Klein's The Hawks' Quagmire:

At its most basic level Philip Klein's contention that the president is allocating insufficient assets to the war is one of civilian interference with war fighting, much of this interference enabled by senior military leadership, who also unfortunately acquiesce in the unrealistic rules of engagement imposed on our forces. Have they all forgotten Vietnam? You kill enough of your enemy wherever you can find them so that they lose the will and capacity to resist. I'll say it again for the benefit of anyone in a position of authority who might be reading this: You kill them. Even if they hide in a mosque, you kill them. Even if they're allies of the Iraqi PM, you kill them. As for collateral damage, this from my father during the recent Israel-Lebanon war: "All this nonsense about the Israeli response not being 'proportionate' is bulls--t. I knew what I was doing when I was dropping bombs over Germany and Italy. I was killing civilians. That happens in war." This touches on the Keane/Kagan argument for 30,000 additional troops versus the 21,500 being sent. It's not only the number that matters, it's how they are used.

Now Mr. Klein's comment about President Bush not identifying how Americans should "sacrifice" for the war effort. Will you tell me, sir, exactly how or what we are supposed to sacrifice? Should Americans stop going about our daily lives, buying goods and services -- to the extent that we damage the economy that provides the taxes to fund the war? Or is this call for sacrifice a code word for higher taxes? Or is it just another cudgel for the Democrats with which to beat George Bush? Speaking of which, I find it sad that any American would take seriously the standard Democrat criticism of the war effort. Dick Durbin? Barbara Boxer? Chuck Schumer? John Murtha? Charlie Rangel? Two-bit politicians. Does anyone believe they care about victory? If they did do you think that they would begrudge our fighting men and women the reinforcements needed to win? Of course, not. Instead they undermine the war effort while troops are in the field. Despicable.

"There is no substitute for victory." -- MacArthur
-- Paul M. DeSisto, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)
Cedar Grove, New Jersey

Mr. Klein's last paragraph nailed it, thoroughly. I've been bitching almost constantly that this whole Iraqi fiasco could/should have been wrapped-up a year or two ago If Dubya had pulled out the stops and allowed the troops to actually WIN, rather than fighting with one-hand-tied-behind-their-backs in a Politically Correct "containment" thing. Half measures avail us nothing!

Has the word "victory" been sincerely used of late? Are the McClellans of the CYA Pentagon replaced? And, why weren't they a long time ago? Are our troops allowed to fire back at the snipers (AKA terrorist killers) in the mosques? Or will they continue to be restricted from actually WINNING?

No, I too am very dubious about the outcome of this mess -- can't help but wonder if the State Department (which Dr. Rice was supposed to straighten up?), the CIA, and FBI can get their collective acts together and maybe get this fiasco resolved. At least Bush cast aside that silly pacifist plan of the supercilious Jim Baker.

Hate to be repetitious, but, I had 16 weeks of basic training and, damn it, I was ready to fight. The Iraqis have had a couple years, and they're not ready yet? Damn.
-- Frost

Philip Klein concludes "With a healthy dose of skepticism, let's hope and pray that President Bush's policy proves effective."

Hell, no! That kind of thinking is appropriate only when the policymaker is the Almighty Himself, not the registered occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, regardless of his party.

Klein writes of "details" being the number of guys with M-16s, should it be 20,000, or should it be 30,000. I suggest that the important "detail" is what does the National Command Authority plan to do with the guys with the M-16s? Are they going to hunker down in the Green Zone? Or are they going to drive their up-armored Hummers around Baghdad, hoping a series of wired 155mm shells aren't detonated when they drive by? Or are they going to ruthlessly implement the solution pioneered by General Sir Gerald Templer in Malaya in the 1950s, studied and practiced by Colonel H R McMaster in Iraq's Tal Afar in 2005, and presented to the President last year.

Klein also writes "Those who believe that the battle against Islamic fundamentalism is the most important calling of our time must once again choose between a president who agrees but won't dedicate adequate resources to the daunting task of defeating this pernicious enemy, and an opposition party that does not take the threat seriously." The not even remotely loyal opposition party and its willfully ignorant constituents aside, distilling the fundamental failure in Iraq to "won't dedicate adequate resources" is egregiously simplistic. As the peerless Ralph Peters (Lt. Col., USA, Ret.) has repeatedly noted, the day this Administration halted the Marines in Fallujah, ostensibly because the Leathernecks' aggressiveness in dispatching the enemy was not acceptable to the Iraqi "authorities", this Administration lost both its strategic and tactical way, and has yet to regain it.

Maybe courtesy of Templer and McMaster this Administration will finally do what is right, paraphrasing Winston Churchill, after all other alternatives have been exhausted.
-- Frank Natoli
Newton, New Jersey

Recently I have spent some time reading various articles that your organization posts on your website. The more I read, the more I am shocked by the hypocrisy and flagrant distortions of facts that your organization exhibits. It is truly sad.

In regards to Mr. Klein's article on 1/12 and his comment "...what he rightly considers 'the decisive ideological struggle of our time,..."

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Bill Clinton, Business, Islam, Abortion, Books, Hollywood, Movies, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Israel, NATO, Africa, Fascism, Nuclear Weapons, Oil