Mr. Warren pats himself on the back with his usual adroitness, but fails to muster any convincing argument in support of his favored course of action.
The prevailing plan for movement against Iraq, with its extended buildup and overwhelming force deployment, is "the standard, bureaucratic, Joint Chiefs thinking, "with every 'I' crossed and every 'T' dotted", in the words of one source". It is the work of men "whose background is chiefly peacetime bureaucratic advancement, and for whom the cautious protection of an exposed posterior is the highest aspiration of a military career".
Mr. Warren prefers the "daring" plan involving "a much quicker attack with smaller forces, making daring use of potential local allies, and taking creative advantage of new airborne technology, on something like the model of the invasion of Afghanistan; relying more on speed and surprise than on the build-up of overwhelming force."
Anyone who wonders why he holds this preference will have to keep wondering, because he doesn't say. He doesn't mention, for example, the notable lack of "potential allies" available for daring use in key areas. The Kurds will be useful in Kurdish-dominated areas, but are unlikely to risk their forces outside their own territory. Arming the Kurds will risk losing Turkey as a basing area. Outside the Kurdish areas the only significant armed force opposing Saddam is SAIRI: the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. We might have second thoughts about providing military assistance to or working with SAIRI, given previous experience with Islamic militants.
What indication do we have that fast, daring attacks with special forces will succeed? If they do not, we may very likely end up with vastly outnumbered groups of lightly armed men stuck deep in enemy-held territory. The desire to avoid this is not simply the covering of butts.
I see no reason to criticize the US military for leaning toward the safest strategy in a situation where anything short of overwhelming victory would be disastrous. Those who do feel obliged to criticize ought at least to include some cogent logic to support their view.
I do have to give full amusement points for Warren's comment that the Iraqi National Congress and other opposition groups are "committed to democracy within Iraq". This is either high comedy or wishful thinking taken to a truly extraordinary degree. |
