Will We Look Like the Soviets When We Leave Iraq?

[kskiska]

Well-equipped foreign troops were under daily fire from determined if ragtag guerrillas, and casualties steadily mounted. Much of the world was opposed to the military action, and opposition was especially strong in Muslim countries. Islamic holy warriors were eventually drawn to the fight, bringing funds and increasingly extreme tactics. The occupying forces sought to modernize a traditional Muslim society and do it quickly. They never lost a battle, yet the war wouldn't end.

If this sounds like a description of the challenge facing U.S. forces in postwar Iraq, you're right. But it could just as well describe another war in the same region -- the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s.

As the American death count rises in Iraq and efforts to improve life for Iraqis remain limited by the lack of security, the Bush administration is working hard to convince us that we are merely witnessing the untidy death throes of Saddam Hussein's regime. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice and others have held up post-World War II Germany and Japan as models for the U.S. occupation in Iraq. The administration's detractors respond by raising the specter of Vietnam or the aborted U.S. military missions in Lebanon and Somalia.

(snip)

Another unsettling similarity is the way in which Americans are increasingly being cast in the role of enemy in Iraq. Now that U.S. troops are under frequent attack, reports from Baghdad suggest that jittery soldiers are shooting back more quickly, and innocent Iraqis are sometimes paying the price -- not a situation likely to endear the American forces to Iraqis. "You know you're beginning to lose a guerrilla war when 'force protection' becomes the main concern of your military," said Milt Bearden, who helped organize the massive CIA effort to support the Afghans in their war against the Soviets. "And we're starting to hear that an awful lot now from top military in Baghdad."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33885-2003Sep6.html

[bfusco]

1. If only it looked as good as post-war Germany

This looks nothing like post war Germany and Japan and the attempt to draw parallels is spin being performed by a desperate administration.

Check out the following http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/reconirq/reconirq.pdf

It's a report from the Army War College written before the war occured warning how underprepared we were for post-Saddam Iraq, the monumental challenges we would face and that if we did not get it right a region far more violent and dangerous then Hussein ever was would emerge. Unfortunatly, our media whores were not revealing these insights to the public as part of their pre-war pep rally. Page 13 details the progress made in reconstruction of Germany and says the following:


"Within three months of Germany's surrender, German armed force were demobilized and disarmed, more then 4 million POW's and refugees were cared for and repatriated, basic service to devestated cities were restored,a potential revolt was discovered and quashed, working local goverments were created, and the police and courts were recreated."

We are no where no this point in Iraq. Bush is no Harry Truman and there is nothing comperable to the Marshall Plan. Next time we should pay more attention to those who will be comitting forces to die instead of a bunch of neo-con chicken hawks.

[maha]

2. Maybe, but ...

I 'spect we'll look more like America pulling out of Saigon.