<They threw down their arms and vanished>
Around Bagdad, we killed about 3-5% of the soldiers in Iraqi army units. Elsewhere, we only killed about 1%. We largely destroyed the heavy weaponry. But the light weaponry, which is what a garrison force uses, was still in the hands of that dissolved Iraqi army, in vast quantities. Since Iraq was a heavily militarized society, and had been for a generation, essentially the entire adult male population had served in the army. So any army we create, was going to be made up of people who had previously been our enemies.
In addition, this army had repeatedly been used by Saddam, and used successfully, to keep the Islamists down. They were a ready-made force, already trained, already with the necessary arms, already organized. All we had to do, was take it over, and convince them to work for us. And if it proved impossible to keep their loyalty, then our whole project in Iraq was doomed anyway. Without Iraqis defending the infrastructure and garrisoning the nation, the nation cannot be governed. The U.S. army is not trained, and cannot function, as a garrison force. And there aren't nearly enough U.S. soldiers, to post one every 20 yards along every oil pipeline, and every electricity line in Iraq.
We are now hearing calls, from numerous people, for more U.S. troops. Since we won't use the previous Iraqi army, and can't get other nations to help, there is only one place more troops can come from: a draft.
If you were dismayed, at the size of demonstrations against the war earlier this year, you are going to be appalled at the reaction to a renewed draft. In the Civil War, soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg had to be rushed to New York City, to put down the anti-draft rioters. A year from now, we may be flying National Guard units from Baghdad to San Francisco, to put down the massive civil disobedience and "restore order".
This is what the NeoCon Control Freaks are bringing us. Defeat abroad, and division at home. |
