Civilized Discourse

Edward Goodwin, who has an excellent blog, says this about my post about US Marines eating food offered by Iraqi civilians:

I found it strange seeing this posted on sciatica considering how anti-war he has been. So now my question is, with some proof that the Iraqi people want us there, why would you refuse them their liberties by pulling out of this conflict?

Yes, it is proof that there are Iraqis who do not mind, and seem to welcome, our presence. My point with the headline on that one was that our guys were not supposed to be starving and willing to eat whatever the Iraqis offered. One of the soldiers was quoted as saying that it could have been a trick, not unlike the car bombing at that checkpoint. Sure, the chance of poisoned food was likely small, but still existed.

Some say we have overextended our supply lines and are causing some hardships to our men at the front. I spoke earlier of the stories of rations being reduced.

Great armies of the past have been brought to their knees by much lesser foes due to logistics problems. Napolean was brought down by the weather killing his supply lines in Moscow and the US had similar issues in Korea in 1950.

I believe that the folks who planned this war did not do a very good job. Several assumptions were not met, the most glaring error being that the Iraqi's would cooperate with being liberated from their oppressor.

This is flawed on one level due to the presence of Saddam's internal security to keep the population in line. We knew about this and, since the Shock and Awe phase failed to put Freedom cars on the streets of Baghdad, should have taken it into account.

This is flawed on a more fundamental level by the fact that we are a foreign army invading their country.

Let's say the Chinese, as one of the only other countries that can give us a good fight, decided that we needed a regime change. They started landing paratroopers in my neighborhood to liberate me. I would be out on my balcony trying to take out as many of them as I could. I would be meeting with my neighbors to figure out how to take these foreigners out. I would be fighting for my family, for my home and for my country. Anyone who collaborated with the enemy would be killed.

I say this as someone who thinks our Leader was elected by a vote of 5-4. I will effect regime change at the ballot box.

Wouldn't you fight back, even if your leader was an evil despot?

As to the pulling out issue, I am honestly worried about a "peace with honor" situation. So I know this is not a viable option for this administration. I can only hope the powers that be get their shit together and get this over with as soon as possible and get our troops back home where they belong.

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