Re: "but we can't take pot shots with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight."
No hindsight required.
Going in 'Rumsfeld-light' (light for the occupation, with less then 1/2 the forces requested by Shinsecki and Joint Staff... *not* 'light' for the toppling of Saddam's enfeebled forces, that much was spot-on), tossing the multi-agency (State/Pentagon/CIA) Occupation Plan (more then three years in development) OUT THE WINDOW less then two months prior to the invasion, and going instead with a sketchy back-of-the-envelope type 'plan' advanced by pie-in-the-sky neo-con idiots at the Institute for a New American Century, and professional liars and con men from the 'expatriot community' such as Chalabi... then *firing* our excellent military 'Regent' for post-war Iraq about one month after initial victory, and replacing him with the sycophantic yes man Bremer when he wouldn't roll over and play dead on command and implement such CRAZY neo-con desired plans like the 'privitization' (putting it in Western hands...) of Iraq's entire oil infrastructure (something even Western oil companies wouldn't touch with a 20 foot pole), etc., etc., THESE CRITICAL MISTAKES were *all well telegraphed*, and didn't need any 'hindsight' to uncover.
In short, the INVASION and the WAR were all expertly and successfully executed.
But the OCCUPATION was botched from the get-go by political hacks, neo-con dreamers, idiots of all stripe, and corrupt individuals (on all sides....)
No hindsight required.
The SUCCESS is OBVIOUS and, unfortunately, so is the FAILURE. |
