The Coming Slaughter In Falluja

[Beloved Citizen]

Fearing domestic political repercussions a few weeks back, Shrub allowed himself to be suckered into a "truce" by those currently in control of Falluja. And in the time since then anti-American forces in Iraq have poured arms and human resources into that city in preparation for what could very well be the real "mother of all battles" in this war.

And now, according to the NY Times, Shrub and his handlers are meeting in Camp David deciding whether or not to commence the killing.

Peter S. Wells, in his excellent "The Battle That Stopped Rome," details events leading up to the high watermark of Roman imperialism during the time of Caesar Augustus. Explaining how German tribesman east of the Rhine were able to destroy the Roman forces there under the leadership of Publius Varus, and therefore halting Roman imperial ambitions there forever, Wells points out:

"In their experiences with the Roman legions, the Germans had learned a simple fact that indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years as they have faced better-equipped imperial armies. Small-scale socities cannot beat heavily armored forces on the open field of battle. But they can defeat them by attacking them in vulnerable situations, especially when they are on the move. Typically, lighter-armed native warriors, with superior knowledge of the landscape and greater maneuverability, can defeat heavily armed imperial armies in places where those armies are unable to take advantage of their technological superiority." (pg 161 Chapt 8 "The Battle")

Publius Quintctilius Bush, meet your Teutoburg Forest.

[billybob537]

1. Keep looking it's over there!

Bush the mother of all fuck ups!:hurts:

[Gman]

2. Hmmm...

You have to wonder just how willing the neocons are to disregard history. Upon examination, the neocons appear to be very willing to disregard history. You don't have to look further back in American history than Viet Nam to see that the America has experienced just what the Roman empire experienced. Nevertheless, the neocons somehow think Iraq is different and American forces are invincible.

[NMDemDist2]

3. where are them dang WMD

[alfredo]

4. Oliphant has it nailed

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Or, in the words of Nathan Bedford Forrest: "Hit 'em where they ain't."

For all of his faults as a human being--and there were many--Forrest was perhaps the best tactical commander ever.

Just as the Axis forces deep in the Soviet Union learned, supplying fighting forces deep within an occupied country is hell on earth. Yes, perhaps both sides are trying to pull one over on each other here, or perhaps they're both in a pickle and simply can't disengage. If I was an Iraqi fighter in Fallujah, I wouldn't believe anything the "coalition" forces said when bargaining, and I'd be using my time to strengthen defenses and free up internal lines of movement to allow withdrawals when the air strikes get called in. Whether fanatical or merely patriotic, they can't possibly believe that we'd just "let them go". They're stuck and they know it. Likewise, for the Marines or the Administration to back down now would be tantamount to admitting wimpiness. And since this whole thing is a big-dick macho display of domination, that just can't be allowed.

How disgusting.

Expect our supply lines and staging areas to be harrassed, and if the enemy has even the slightest degree of national organization, the moment we've fully invested the assault on Fallujah, expect for a major flare-up to occur elsewhere, forcing us to counter it with our overtaxed units.

None of this is new or innovative, it's just that the past-worshiping conservatives either didn't bother to read any history, or they're so puffed-up with their superiority that they think they're immune to simple causality. The truly funny thing is that the many lessons that history teaches us on this subject all seem to have the same component: the invaders felt superior to those who did essentially the same thing before, and thus weren't subject to the same pitfalls.

Lest we forget, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union on June 22nd, the same day that Napoleon did...