Wes Clark, WP Outlook:The Real Battle, Winning in Fallujah Just Beginning

[flpoljunkie]

The Real Battle

Winning in Fallujah Is Just the Beginning

By Wesley K. Clark
Sunday, November 14, 2004

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47034-2004Nov12.html

Ending paragraphs:

This insurgency has continued to grow, despite U.S. military effectiveness on the ground. While Saddam Hussein's security forces may have always had a plan to resist the occupation, it was the failure of U.S. policymakers to gain political legitimacy that enabled the insurgency to grow. And while the failure may have begun with the inability to impose order after Saddam's ouster, it was the broader lack of a political coterie and the tools of political development -- such as the Vietnam program of Civil Operations-Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) -- which seems to have enabled the insurgency to take root amid the U.S. presence. These are the sorts of mistakes the United States must avoid in the future, otherwise the battle of Fallujah may end up being nothing more than the "taking down" of an insurgent stronghold -- a battlefield success on the road to strategic failure.

Troops are in Fallujah only because of a political failure: Large numbers of Sunnis either wouldn't, or couldn't, participate in the political process and the coming elections. Greater security in Fallujah may move citizens (whenever they return) to take part in the voting; it's too early to say. But it's certain that you can't bomb people into the polling booths.

We should be under no illusions: This is not so much a war as it is an effort to birth a nation. It is past time for the administration to undertake diplomatic efforts in the region and political efforts inside Iraq that are worthy of the risks and burdens born by our men and women in uniform. No one knows better than they do: You cannot win in Iraq simply by killing the opponent. Much as we honor our troops and pray for their well-being, if diplomacy fails, their sacrifices and even their successes in Fallujah won't be enough.

[ajacobson]

1. US military planners

seem to think that the insurgency is somehow non-organic (i.e., foreign fighters, al-Queda operatives, etc. who have duped the local yokels to take up arms) and therefore can be quelled by just whooping their ass.

Its going to be like the movie Groundhog Day, we are going to repeat this scene over and over and over...

[Spector]

2. Damn,

Every private in the field knows the current policies are f*cked-up. What I don't understand is why bush didn't let the Generals do their job. Ask Lt. Gen. Garner what he thought we should have done after saddam fell. If he had had his way we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now. Of course, he got fired for his views.

Oh well, maybe bush will stumble upon the right path in Iraq before we are down to a platoon sized element...

Keep the Faith...