I hear they are already sending a carrier (or carriers) home from the war, and beginning to transport troops home as well. Unbelievable, and unbelievably good.
I expect to see the Pentagon manage the news so as to make the absolute most out of it. It will take the world a little while to digest the victory in Iraq, and get over the wee bit of looting. When things hit a lull, or France makes some preposterous joint statement with Putin, then I'd expect to see the breaking news on chemical weapons, with good video coverage and scientific proof from US labs. Then we let the world absorb the enormity of that and when Germany is about to say, "ja, das ist all zehr gut, aber . . ." then the Pentagon will reveal the underground nuclear devices, and secret deals with Berlin which will effectively shut them up. Wars now have to be managed strategically, politically, and world-opinionally. To throw out all this information at once would be like shooting all your ammunition at once.
As for the restoration of power, water, civil order in Iraq, it strikes me as amazing we have troops putting in hours at power plants (opening a safe and using the cash to lure unpaid workers back to work!) and doing walk arounds with the Iraqi police to stop looting.
I'm always astounded that suburbanites and news anchors over here can get in a huff about looting. I'd expect to see revenge squads formed by the families of the victims: maybe you couldn't find the secret police guy who took your brother away 8 years ago, but you might be able to locate his brother, living in a nice house in fashionable Baghdad. One path to closure.
Just think about how Detroit celebrates a sports championship: rioting, looting and burning. Or how Cincinnati gets its dander up over a shooting in the hood: rioting, looting and burning. Don't forget the year LA burned for the Rodney King cause. And this all happened in the very heart of the Rule of Law, the Sanctity of the Vote, and the Pursuit and Possession of Property.
The reporters and analysts can't stop moving the goalposts.
Kb |
