Even if they had done "nothing" till spring do you think things would have turned out worse? Oh..yeah, that might have allowed Osama, his right hand, and the leader of the Taliban to escape....we wouldn't have wanted that....
Listen. in 2001, let alone 2002, Pakistan was HARDLY willing to permit 150,000 US soldiers be supplied via their ports and highways. It really wasn't until we uncovered the complicity of their top nuclear scientist selling nuclear secrets (and the discovery of "dirty bomb" plans) that Pakistan's embattled prime minister finally signed on. Of course, we also had to waiver previous sanctions against Pakistan to obtain the limited support we've "enjoyed". Pakistan sits on the verge of constant outright civil war and no one wants to see that ignited over Afghanistan.
But using the available rival tribes, including the N. Alliance who already had a tremendous grudge against the Taliban, we were able to overthrow them with only a couple of thousand actual US personnel involved on the ground.
As for Iraq, history will weigh the merits of going in light, versus waiting for 5 months to create a massive "desert storm" style build up. I certainly concur that disbanding the Iraqi army was a major mistake. But I also believe we need to place some blame upon the United Nations, which had initially placed the sanctions and binding UNSC resolutions against Iraq and thus assumed MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY for the future of Iraq nation building.
Furthermore, UNSC 1511 directs the US and other coalition forces to expeditiously turn over governmental responsibility to Iraqis as soon as practicable. And I think that's what we've been doing. In the end, the fight for Iraqi freedom must be primarily born by Iraqis. And if the insurgents continue to resist, it must be Iraqis who do most of the fighting to bring this insurgency to a close. We simply cannot do it for them. The insurgents must be made to realize that the government is strong enough, politically as well as militarily, to preserve nation wide order. Only in this manner will the insurgents and those who are financing and backing them for their own political advantage, be made to realize that their only practical path is via non-violent political participation and support of the rule of law.
Hawk |
