Ed:
You continue to amaze me. How could you possibly write the following "stuff":
"busloads, carloads and truckloads of Iraqis have been hurling themselves into tanks and dying in spectacular fashion."
Not much real evidence of all these "loads," actually. There was the taxi commandeered by a fedayeen with a gun; lemme see, did the driver or the woman with child have a choice when he said, "Drive, keep driving or I shoot you now!"??? The Toyotas with RPG and machine guns come straight out of Black Hawk Down, only now we simply take them out at 1.5 miles. G'bye. Again, the number of US casualties speaks for itself, but also the number of AWOL and POW Iraqi soldiers. Huge AWOLs, ample surrenders, and just a pocketful of thugs left, many of them apparently, mercenaries (non-Iraqis) hired by Chief Thug Saddam. 300,000 Iraqi soldiers and most of them seem to have simply undressed on the spot and fled. This IS the essence of a great military victory, imho.
"The Iraqi's are a strong nationalistic people and they may not appreciate our use of force to "liberate" them."
They "may not"? Then again, they "may."??? Contrast your statement with all the people hitting Saddam's statue head with their shoes, spitting on it, jumping on it, riding horseback on it. You sound like you're writing copy for the Al Jazeera anchor.
"unlike N. Korea where the people are starving, most Iraqi's have led relatively comfortable economic lives."
Puhleeeeeze. This is a country sitting on a (great) lake of oil, as rich per capita perhaps as Kuwait or Dubai. Have you seen the villages, the cities? It looks like Tunisia, fer cryin out loud. Howzabout the UN statistics on food, water, disease? Let's try to stay in this solar system, shall we?
"To rank a victory over a small, technologically inferior country where there was never a question that we would overwhelm them quickly, as greater than the victory over Japan or Germany in WW11 or the victory in WW1, however, sets history on its ear."
Wrong again, Baby Elephant. We landed an expeditionary force halfway around the world, perhaps 90,000 actual fighting troops, the rest support, facing 300,000 troops, a large number of them reputed to be "Special" or "Elite" Republican Guard, defending their homeland, in a war they had a year's advance notice of. We took (regrettably, even 1 casualty is regrettable) about 75 casualties!!! We conquered a country the size of California in 3 weeks. A great victory is not a pitching contest, nor an almost tie. You were once a soldier, you know the great victory is where you accomplish your strategic goal with fewest (or no) casualties. You sound like it would be a greater victory for us if our opponent had been better armed, better motivated and taken more of our boys. Absolutely %$#$%ing astounding. But don't take my word for it, US military historians are already calling this a battle plan and strategy which will be ranked with the great plans. Psy ops, feints, disinformation, early strikes, pinpoint bombing--down to press briefings, etc.
Ed, I think you have to stop arguing your case (which you've been arguing for so many years) and sit back and see what is really happening. Get out of "Back to the Future" Marty, and let's just watch the Iraqis in downtown Baghdad parading with pictures of GWB, Liberator, held to their foreheads.
As William noted, the Bush haters will find a defeat in everything the guy does. Oh, for the good old days when we could bomb an aspirin factory and declare a victory against terrorism. The French loved Limp (not particularly Slick) Willie, didn't they? Their kind of prez.
But the greatest victors here have to be the peoples of the Middle East, in the same way that when the mushroom clouds rose over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the real victors were the Japanese who would be freed, through liberation, from a dictatorship and the by then unnecessary bloodshed of a land assault on Japan. On one point we will agree: it will fall to the Iraqi people to form a secular, democratic government which can represent all their citizens and bring them forward from 19th century despotism into 21st century freedom and wealth. And they could very well screw it up; you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
This is a great day for America & England & the Coalition, and for the world. Not a very good day for the remaining (living) Baath Party members, the French or German heads of state (or their proposed continuing economic interests in the Middle East, tant pis), or the miscalculating Russians. Or the pitiful "give peace a chance" groups in Oakland or Seattle. That's fine, we relegate them to the dumpster behind the building marked "irrelevant."
Rejoice and be Exceeding Glad, for the Satellite brings you graphic tidings of Great Joy. Today, April 9, marks the potential beginning of a new era, and another heavy nail in the coffin of Islamic Terrorism.
I wonder, since you're so saddened by these events, just what would have made you happy???
Kb |
