[Dean's World] Dave Price: Paths Of Least Resistance

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Posted by Dave Price:
Paths Of Least Resistance
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1199653774.shtml


   Did the Rumsfeld strategy in Iraq set the table for the success of
   Petraeus' plan? Some good points made in [1]this lengthy post at Error
   Theory:

     Why did the Iraqis turn against al Qaeda and Iran? Because al Qaeda
     and Iran were murdering them en masse. And why were al Qaeda and
     Iran murdering Iraqis en masse? Because Defense Secretary Rumfeldâs
     small-footprint force-protection strategy meant that they couldnât
     attack American troops without getting immediately annihilated.
     ...
     Should we have used the Petraeus strategy from the outset?
     Thatâs a little like seeing Ali come off the ropes in the 8th round
     to kayo Foreman and thinking: âhey, he should have done that in
     round one.â Petraeusâ âclear, hold and buildâ strategy might have
     worked earlier, but it also might have altered al Qaedaâs strategy.
     If our troops had been more exposed, al Qaeda might have
     concentrated more on military targets and less on the Iraqi
     population, which was the key decision that determined everything.
     Induce al Qaeda to make a different decision, and who knows how
     things might have turned out?

   More importantly, perhaps, in 2003-2004 we could not have implemented
   Petraeus' surge, because we were several hundred thousand troops
   short: there was as of yet no newly trained Iraqi Army, police, and
   Ministry of Interior forces. Even in 2005 - 2006 they were still very
   raw and much less numerous than today.
   The post makes numerous references to "alliance" between Al Qaeda and
   media/Democrats, which may strike some as over-the-top, but there were
   some coinciding interests there: bad news sells, and both Democrats
   and Al Qaeda sincerely wanted U.S. troops out of Iraq, though of
   course for very different reasons (Dems because they believed the war
   was lost or not worth winning, Al Qaeda because they wanted to
   establish a safe haven).

     Thanks to the al Qaeda/Democrat media strategy, the Iraqi people
     now hate the religious intolerance of al Qaeda and Iran with a
     white hot passion, giving them the best possible chance to become
     the first modern Republic in the Islamic world (a republic that
     chooses to reject theocracy, unlike Turkey, which has its
     theocratic tendencies denied by un-democratic means). Figure ten
     years before they start to completely outstrip the rest of the
     Islamic world economically, making them a model for other Muslim
     countries to follow.

   That's the miracle of liberal democracy that the neocons have been
   talking about, and it certainly looks more likely now than at any
   point in the last 3 years.
   (Via [2]AOS)

References

   1. http://errortheory.blogspot.com/2007/12/rumsfelds-victory-retrospective-look-at.html
   2. http://www.ace.mu.nu/