Hi cnyndwllr; Re: "Do you recall that we've gone down this path before? Do you recall that your characterization of my position was incomplete, taken out of context and misleading? I've posted my earlier response from 3 1/2 months ago in case you actually did forget. See below."
I didn't forget. I didn't bother responding to your post because I felt that I had made my point.
The war started March 19th. You provided links to your comments from April 9 and 11, 2003. By that time, the neocons had already been shocked by:
(a) No significant Iraqi generals came over to the US side.
(b) Looting was beginning.
(c) There were no significant cheering crowds.
(d) Our own Iraqi allies were warning us to get out quickly.
(e) The Iraqis were already using guerilla tactics against us.
In fact, in one of your own links, you made note of the fact that the demonstration involving the pulling down of Saddam's statue in Baghdad only had an audience of 200 people.
You were simply making comments that were quite common at the time. For example:
MTV News, April 2, 2003
Who Are The Fedayeen?
...
Coalition troops have faced light resistance from Saddam's approximately 300,000-strong regular army and have not yet fully engaged the approximately 70,000 Republican Guard troops, but their experience so far with the Fedayeen has been frustrating, according to the Council on Foreign Affairs. The council reported that the U.S. administration was aware of the Fedayeen before the war began, but did not expect them to be such a potent fighting force.
In addition to launching guerilla attacks, the Fedayeen act as a kind of internal police force for Saddam's regular army units, often threatening to kill soldiers who attempt to surrender. Not accountable to the regular Iraqi army, the Fedayeen answer to Saddam's eldest son, Uday, 38, who founded the unit in 1995 with 10,000 men drawn from regions loyal to the Baath regime. The unit reports directly to the presidential palace rather than the army hierarchy.
...
globalsecurity.org
March 28, 2003
Text: Military Leaders at the Pentagon
Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers
...
They put on American and British uniforms to try to fool regular Iraqi soldiers into surrendering to them, and then execute them as an example for others who might contemplate defection or capitulation.
...
The tactics employed by the Iraqi regime, by contrast, hiding behind women and children, murdering civilians, these are not signs of strength. They're sign of weakness and of desperation.
...
March 24, 2003
...
AT ONE POINT, the Marines had gained control of both bridges and traffic was flowing north on Highway 8, a road the Marines have now nicknamed “Ambush Alley.” But over two days they have been pushed back after surprise attacks by Iraqis dressed in civilian clothes and firing from nearby buildings.
...
Many of those on the “civilian” side of the bridge are Iraqi soldiers who have shed their uniforms and are surprising the Marines by taking up positions in nearby buildings, including a hospital ...
...
msnbc.msn.com
Of course it is true that the neocon story was still that the war was a great idea, but they've never said anything different, either before the war or through the present day. Their information is as useless as a stopped clock.
-- Carl
P.S. Also see articles like this one that slipped through the censors at Fox News:
March 27, 2003
foxnews.com |
