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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (42076)	5/4/2004 9:31:47 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793670

Hell if the 4th ID came through Turkey, hooked up with N Iraqi Free Forces... as originally planned, a whole lot of current situations would not exist. But the 4th ID did not do that so we have change. Indeed. I remember that and I appreciated the strategic significance of it. I agree with you that, had that plan not fallen through, things could have been a lot different. As I recall, that problem surfaced as the invasion was about to start. The Turkey situation was iffy during the planning stages and a known obstacle before we rolled in. What does a sensible person do when, on starting out on a planned road trip to the beach, finding that the car engine is making funny noises? Well, he sure doesn't head for the freeway. That would be reckless. Yes, you've offered an excellent example of how plans change in combat. At least it would be if the problem hadn't surfaced before the first firefight while the plan was still just a plan. Under the circumstances I would call it not having one's ducks lined up. Plans include spots for go/no go decisions for a reason. The original goals were to rid the world of Saddam and to free Iraqi citizens from oppression. The goals have not changed. I have participated in a lot of discussion on this thread regarding our goals in Iraq. A lot. I don't think it's clear yet what our goals were at the start. If the goals were as you specify, then they have been accomplished. They were accomplished by the time Bush declared the Iraq war over. Obviously the goals either went beyond what you said or have been since expanded to include creating a beacon of Western democracy in the ME. The military operation as we implemented it accomplished your version of the goals even given the obstacles and the changes. Congratulations to our military for that. I never doubted them for a minute. But the expanded goal is another matter. Either we did not have that as a goal going in and it established itself later or we did not plan sufficiently for achieving it. You cannot blame the failure to corral the media, for example, since that's the obstacle that lead into this discussion, on the change in the Turkey situation. Perhaps you notice that a couple of posts this morning, or maybe last night for you, speak to the question of the capacity of Iraqis for a liberal democracy. Now there's an question that was raised before the first American boots hit the ground but was dismissed as part of Bush hatred like so many sensible questions. It's question that should have been thoroughly vetted as part of the planning process. Helluva time to be discussing it now.