The General answers, but gives us no answer. No answer to the only important question.
Category: wargasm
21st century fox. more than war, making the grand plan for man without ever being
Tet Mau Than
The revolution was not televised. Then came Tet.
memories come in flavors, come often in pairs. I have two versions of Tet. The time I remember, and the time I read now about then and them. I know more about other sides now than I did then, but then is when it mattered more. Then was when things could have been avoided, now they can only be remembered. Maybe they can be used, but only if… okay, they won’t be used. Oh well.
The two Tets.
On each side there were sides. This is a fact of war. Each side engaged in combat has more than one side interested in the results. More than one outcome is possible. The battlefield is just one of the battles. It is not where the war will be won since no war is won by fighting. It is never won during a battle, nor by a battalion. War is the force between armies. Armies fed by civilians.
Today those that supported the war live with those that did not. 1968 was a treadstone year. Everyone who passed by it remembers it. Probably not the same way. We passed over it then, differently, and have been taken different places since. The Vietnam war for us is the American war for them. Neither side knew how easily peace could have been struck. Neither side knew that the other felt exhausted by combat that could not deter nor defeat the other.
What happened then, was what usually happens. It is happening now over Iraq, the warriors have their way. The civilians stand by, afraid. Afraid of seeming ungrateful as they also stand by afraid of the toll of war. It takes more courage to stand up to tanks than to drive one. it takes more courage to stand for a cause, then to take a life because you are told.
this is a country of old wars, but this is not the time for old warriors. wars end not when the soldiers tire, but when the bullets run out. tanks roll until they run out of fuel. civilians have to end war, since generals won’t.
The Surge Of War
A summary of our story todate:
The Surge
Gnl Patreaus was willing to use new forces in a risk; war in the field.
- take field forces out of the barracks into the battle ground. reward risk
- leverage two events, the coming withdrawal, the threat of our leaving Iraqis to their own revenge, rage and ravage.
- battlefield geometry: out of the ice cream parlor and into the battle.
- force multiplier: use recently trained combat forces for a short high risk combat tour…
- fresh forces, deploy quickly, even ahead of their standard support and management cadre.
- Be prepared for loses.
Remember the timeline…
Anbar, Fall 2006, Iraqis are asking that the new recruits be allowed to patrol in their province rather than be shipped to a different area. The NNN are upset with the tactics and the restrictions of Al … The way to lose a war is lose the population. Al Qaeda lost the people with their insistance on imposed rules, unsuited and unfamiliar to the Anbar Tribes… It is easier for us to impose driving regulations in Alaska than for Al Qaeda to impose a smoking ban in Anbar.
If you frighten my wife, kill my son, and ban my smoking, then you are not an improvement. You must go. The “Coalition” returned the recruits to their home province so that they defended a location and their interest.
Save the whatsit, save their world. This works for the same reason that the warcasters continue to (p)raise 911. Incitement is excitement, is the cheapest incentive. They attacked us, we attack back. Revenge sweetens the taste of bile, it is the purifier of death. It provides the alchemy needed to turn murder into killing, death into sacrifice. Wearing the cloak of the warrior, the cloth made pure makes a hero out of a murderer. Just be certain you win.
Fall 2006,Democrats win on promise of imminent withdrawal of forces from Iraq
Winter 2006, Britain announces withdrawal plans from Iraq.
Spring 2006, Surge begins as “Secure Baghdad” slow buildup.
Spring 2006, “give the surge a chance. We don’t have all our forces.”
Summer 2006, Military forces being aided by Iraqi citizens. The Anbar success.
Fall 2006, Surge being credited with success of Iraqi awakening.
if you let the General write history, success will always be his. — webionaire
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