Sunday, May 02, 2004
The Fallujah Pull out
Personally, I think the US has made a huge mistake by pulling out of Fallujah. Sure, a case can be made that this type of model can work in certain instances. However, now is not the time. First crush the rebellion and then you can go ahead with such an arrangement. By pulling out the way they did, they not only crushed the moral of their own troops, they gave the defenders of Fallujah a moral victory. In the days leading up to the pull out, the press droned on ad nauseam about how they would only stir up more resistance by going in and the defenders of Fallujah would be celebrated as martyrs in respect. I think this mantra was not closely examined. The insurgents at Fallujah were not lauded for standing by to the Americans they were lauded because “Arab street” was still holding on to the prospect that they could get the Americans to back down. The Americans should look what happened in the war itself. Believing the rhetoric of comical Ali, the “Arab street” was up in Arms. However, when their dreams of American defeat were shown to be nothing but an illusion things quickly quieted down. Another thing they US should have looked at is what happened in Somali. I do not blame Clinton one bit for leaving the country, but the optics of an American pull out without dealing a blow to Aidid was terrible. Somali helped Bin Laden gain a great deal of street credibility.
All the tough talk coming out of Washington the week before, only served to magnify insurgents perceived victory. Republican bravado politicking might work well at home, but there is nothing worse in Foreign policy than talking loudly and carrying a small stick.
All and all, I think the timing of the pictures coming out might have had something to do with “pull back”.
Speaking of which, they have handled the issue particularly poorly. If there ever was time for spin, it is now. What I would say is this: it was not Al Jazzera that broke the story, nor was it any other Arab network. It was CBS, one of the major US networks. This is what a free press does. It calls attention to the misdeeds of those in the employ of the government and demands that the state do something about it. I only hope that Al Jazzera will hold the governments of the Arab world to the same standards that CBS does ours.
As for the mistreatment, we condemn it and those that committed these acts will be brought to justice. That said, I hope the Iraq people and the Arab world generally does not tar all Americans with the same brush. The American people have the good sense to see that Bin Laden is not representative Arabs or Muslims and they also have the good sense to see that the Fallujahian thugs, who mutilated the bodies of civilian contractors, are not typical Iraqis. I hope the Iraqi people will have the good sense to put their emotions aside and see that these criminals are not representative of the 150,000 Americans in Iraq.
Moving on, the question I want to know is what self righteous whistler blower or egotistic profiteer would sell these pictures to a major news network? Whoever he is should be taken out back on shot. American blood and now British will flow because of this.
Personally, I think the US has made a huge mistake by pulling out of Fallujah. Sure, a case can be made that this type of model can work in certain instances. However, now is not the time. First crush the rebellion and then you can go ahead with such an arrangement. By pulling out the way they did, they not only crushed the moral of their own troops, they gave the defenders of Fallujah a moral victory. In the days leading up to the pull out, the press droned on ad nauseam about how they would only stir up more resistance by going in and the defenders of Fallujah would be celebrated as martyrs in respect. I think this mantra was not closely examined. The insurgents at Fallujah were not lauded for standing by to the Americans they were lauded because “Arab street” was still holding on to the prospect that they could get the Americans to back down. The Americans should look what happened in the war itself. Believing the rhetoric of comical Ali, the “Arab street” was up in Arms. However, when their dreams of American defeat were shown to be nothing but an illusion things quickly quieted down. Another thing they US should have looked at is what happened in Somali. I do not blame Clinton one bit for leaving the country, but the optics of an American pull out without dealing a blow to Aidid was terrible. Somali helped Bin Laden gain a great deal of street credibility.
All the tough talk coming out of Washington the week before, only served to magnify insurgents perceived victory. Republican bravado politicking might work well at home, but there is nothing worse in Foreign policy than talking loudly and carrying a small stick.
All and all, I think the timing of the pictures coming out might have had something to do with “pull back”.
Speaking of which, they have handled the issue particularly poorly. If there ever was time for spin, it is now. What I would say is this: it was not Al Jazzera that broke the story, nor was it any other Arab network. It was CBS, one of the major US networks. This is what a free press does. It calls attention to the misdeeds of those in the employ of the government and demands that the state do something about it. I only hope that Al Jazzera will hold the governments of the Arab world to the same standards that CBS does ours.
As for the mistreatment, we condemn it and those that committed these acts will be brought to justice. That said, I hope the Iraq people and the Arab world generally does not tar all Americans with the same brush. The American people have the good sense to see that Bin Laden is not representative Arabs or Muslims and they also have the good sense to see that the Fallujahian thugs, who mutilated the bodies of civilian contractors, are not typical Iraqis. I hope the Iraqi people will have the good sense to put their emotions aside and see that these criminals are not representative of the 150,000 Americans in Iraq.
Moving on, the question I want to know is what self righteous whistler blower or egotistic profiteer would sell these pictures to a major news network? Whoever he is should be taken out back on shot. American blood and now British will flow because of this.
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