Say Anything Blog

MikeAdamson:

Do read the whole thing although the writer does not like George Bush so those with weak hearts and closed minds should consult a physician first.

Not to be smart, but you don’t know that.

Part of establishing one’s liberal bona fides in this country is to preface everything you’re going to say with a rant about W.

Are you genuinely recognizing progress here, Mike, or being a smart ass?

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Carrick...maybe

Rob...while I admit to some smart assery in my time at SA, there is no question that violence is down pretty much everywhere in Iraq and that should be acknowledged by pessimists like myself. Of course the next step is to take advantage of the more secure environment and make some political progress which was the goal of the surge in the first place.

It’s definitely a positive step though and credit should be given where and when it’s due.

The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.
Benjamin Disraeli

A pig flying moment!!!  Mike achnowledges our progress in Iraq!!

You don’t have to be a moron to be a liberal Democrat but it sure helps.

I admit being rather skeptical about the surge (mostly I was worried about the low number of addition troops being deployed, which I thought due to political constraints rather than the commanders judgement of best force size).  I also never expected it to work nearly as well as it has.

But I think this is an illustration of good management:  What’s important in cases like this is not what most people think, but what the best people think.  Put another way, if an expert on insurgency like General Petraeus can’t crack this nut, who else has a hope?

I think some credit should go to the Iraqis themselves and particularly those Sunnis who appear to have sent the local branch of Al Qaeda packing.

Here’s to more pig flying moments in the future...knock on wood.

The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.
Benjamin Disraeli

I think some credit should go to the Iraqis themselves and particularly those Sunnis who appear to have sent the local branch of Al Qaeda packing.

Would any of this have happened without our initial deposing of Saddam and our continuing presence in order to make sure things came out all right?

Hope and change, in a free world, are the private possessions of motivated individuals.

Would any of this have happened without our initial deposing of Saddam and our continuing presence in order to make sure things came out all right?

Of course not!!  While Petreus should get some credit for his efforts the real kudos should go to president Bush who had the foresight to see the possibility of a representative Iraqi government and the courage to stay with his Iraqi plans in the face of extreme criticism from the Democrats and the press.  None of this could have been done with a weak-kneed president more concerned with his popularity than the needs of the country.

You don’t have to be a moron to be a liberal Democrat but it sure helps.

While everyone is feeling congratulatory about the progress being made in Iraq, it would be a good thing to acknowledge that the increased troop strength has been only part of the solution.  The so-called “surge” also involves a concerted effort by lower level, local area commanders to work with tribal chieftains and village elders to eradicate AQI and their “foreign” fighters at the local level.  In other words, courter-insurgency and cooperation at the tribal or village level.

This change in strategy and tactics was developed and implemented by General David Petraeus, the same one who was slimed by MoveOn.org in that infamous and libelous NYT ad… an ad which has yet to be denounced by the Democrats’ presidential candidates or their congressional “leaders.” Far from “betraying” anyone, he is accomplishing exactly what he set out to accomplish… something neither congressional Democrats nor their party’s presidential candidates can claim.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

But I think this is an illustration of good management:  What’s important in cases like this is not what most people think, but what the best people think.  Put another way, if an expert on insurgency like General Petraeus can’t crack this nut, who else has a hope?

You guys should go back through the podcast archives and find our interview with Frank Chiaventone, who was General Petraeus’ teacher at the war college.

I think you’ll find it illuminating.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

I am a very passionate critic of President Bush on several matters, so I don’t want the following to appear as if I am elevating him to deity status; but . . .

1) George Bush had the courage to take us into Iraq, despite our many European, U.N. and domestic critics. He had to decide to go in and take the credit or the blame for the outcome and he was willing to accept the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune because he honestly believed it was the right war at the right time and in the right place, and I believe he was 100% right..
2) While I don’t want to make the comparison too broad, like Lincoln did with Grant, Bush had to suffer some serious incompetance in the military, the intelligence community and the Pentagon and keep his head down and his resolve strong until he found the right general that was not shy about taking the fight to the enemy. It appears Petraeus is Bush’s Grant!
3) Bush had to fight an anti-War and anti-military Third Column at home (Democrats, liberals and MSM); all not only hoping for failure in Iraq for reasons of partisan political power, but they have have given a great deal of aid and comfort to our enemies to directly aid them in defeating our country and killing our troops.
4) While many people share the credit for the surge working and the appearance now that we have at last turned the corner towards victory, I will defend George Bush’s courage and his resolve in this war. Has it all gone perfectly? No! In many ways it has been a damn comedy of errors, with fraternity type highjinks like at Abu Graib; but the victory does not go to the swift or the perfect, but those with a determination to win and George Bush had that determination.

Let us hope that as our surge troops start coming home in January 2008 that the violence will stay down and we can extract even more next summer and fall; but for God’s sake let us fight with all our might not to allow the cowardly Democrats to force us out too quickly and by doing so snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.