Dissent in the BunkerPPPPPPHHHHFFSSPP!!
The military has been hitting hard lately in Iraq, using overwhelming firepower to kill the enemy in operations with videogame names like Iron Hammer and Ivy Cyclone II. But behind the scenes, some military experts, including high-ranking officers in U.S. Special Forces (Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs and the like), are beginning to complain that America's strategy in Iraq is wrongheaded.
"THIS IS WHAT Westmoreland was doing in Vietnam," says a top Special Forces commander, referring to the firepower-heavy tactics favored by the military's senior commander in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, who lost sight of America's essential mission in that lost war: winning the hearts and minds of the people.
Sitting in his office in downtown Washington, Gingrich searched on his computer for the Web site of the Coalition Provisional Authority, set up in Baghdad to oversee the reconstruction and democratization of Iraq. "I'm told over there that CPA stands for 'Can't Produce Anything'," says Gingrich. His basic point: where are the Iraqi faces in the New Iraq? "Americans can't win in Iraq," he says. "Only Iraqis can win in Iraq."
"The real key here is not how many enemy do I kill. The real key is how many allies do I grow," he says. "And that is a very important metric that they just don't get."
Monday, December 8
Drinking Water While Reading This May Result In A Drenched Monitor
Spit-take time: Newsweek reports that hawks are getting worried - even critical - over Iraq. Even (take a big sip here) Newt. (PPPPPPHHHHFFSSPP!!)
