War D’Oeuvres
You can tell just by looking which ones are going to taste bad. NYT oped page: Â
Nate Fick, Marine Recon platoon leader in the invasion, author of “One Bullet Away” and an acquaintance, gives us the most worthwhile read in NYT’s 5th anniversary Iraq oped-apalooza. Worries Over Being Slimed:
The weapons, we now know, were some combination of relic, bluster and ruse. We focused on the nerve-agent feint, and got roundhoused by the insurgent hook. I wish we could all go back to those nights in the Kuwaiti desert, when a more sober assessment could have changed the way we fought, and maybe lessened the likelihood that we’d still be fighting five years later.
You’ll notice Nate doesn’t suggest going back in time to cancel the war based on what is now known. But unlike most of the company he’s keeping on this page, he doesn’t have any excuses to make. He was an LT who wanted to get it done, and last time I heard him on the subject, still wanted to see it done.
Frederick Kagan: We didn’t go to war with the army he wanted to, but we have it now.
Kenneth Pollack, fairweather warmonger, wants us out the right way, but damns those he arrived here with.
Bremer: Their lack of planning wasn’t something I planned on. Not my fault.
Perle: They handed it to the wrong hacks. Not my fault.
Anne-Marie Slaughter at NYT: Bush lied, statues died.
Crackerjacks from the peanut gallery here. Embarrassing naivete garnish here. Didn’t know that Arab societies are tribal and sectarian and that 30 years of sadistic tyranny leaves people politically and psychologically traumatized? Resign now, please.
Little bites in the main not very satisfying, just enough to leave you with a bitter aftertaste. Maybe because NYT, with the exception of one Marine’s straightforward recollection and a couple of smug I-told-you-soes, has selected opeditorialists with excuses to make. NYT’s neatest trick appears to be have tricked a lot of erstwhile/sheepish war enthusiasts into pantsing themselves for the entertainment of NYT’s readers.Â
Here’s a Ritz cracker with cheese: a retired general who is astonished at the failures of the Democratic-led Congress, and yet has climbed into bed with these losers.
Topics: Iraq
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:31 pm on Sunday, March 16, 2008
2 Responses to “War D’Oeuvres”
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March 17th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Eaton, Fallon, Shinseki, et al., it’s truely frightening to see the rot from inside our military. The fact that they’re out of the military now doesn’t mitigate the fact that they were in at one time and were in charge.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Web Reconnaissance for 03/17/2008
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.