Re: How Not to Win a War on Terror
Aaron sayeth:
Yeah, I understand why many would find the rules of engagement infuriating. However, we are not in a total war situation. FWIW, I have heard the ROE in Iraq have been liberalized.
The Democrats like to go around saying a 100% military solution is not going to work. Well, that is a silly scarecrow they setup for themselves. By their actions more accurate words would be they believe military action should contribute 0% to the solution.
Similarly on our side, the solution is never 100% military and I mean never. War & the military is only one tool in the mix. Never forget politics & diplomacy are also critical tools. By diplomacy I don't mean diplomacy European style which is the art of signing papers, drinking expensive champagne, and being obsequious.
Fallujah represents what happens when all three are not used in the proper mix. Commanders impulsively (I hear this came from the very top i.e. The President) ordered to go in and clean out Fallujah and a disaster ensued. The political & diplomatic pressures were too great to resist and our forces had to leave prior to finishing the job. The diplomatic and political was setup and arranged and Fallujah II went better.
I am not saying we should not vigorously prosecute the war on terror, but we need to prosecute it prudently.
The hesitation, of course, is that it looks very bad to be wrong when you attack a non-military target in a non-military area. But, which part of "new war" are we forgetting? If we can set standards for gathering reliable intel what's the problem with a surgical strike to take out a persistent pest?
I certainly hope that these aren't the same rules of engagement that we're using to fight the Iraqi insurgents. We'll never get to them this way!
Yeah, I understand why many would find the rules of engagement infuriating. However, we are not in a total war situation. FWIW, I have heard the ROE in Iraq have been liberalized.
The Democrats like to go around saying a 100% military solution is not going to work. Well, that is a silly scarecrow they setup for themselves. By their actions more accurate words would be they believe military action should contribute 0% to the solution.
Similarly on our side, the solution is never 100% military and I mean never. War & the military is only one tool in the mix. Never forget politics & diplomacy are also critical tools. By diplomacy I don't mean diplomacy European style which is the art of signing papers, drinking expensive champagne, and being obsequious.
Fallujah represents what happens when all three are not used in the proper mix. Commanders impulsively (I hear this came from the very top i.e. The President) ordered to go in and clean out Fallujah and a disaster ensued. The political & diplomatic pressures were too great to resist and our forces had to leave prior to finishing the job. The diplomatic and political was setup and arranged and Fallujah II went better.
I am not saying we should not vigorously prosecute the war on terror, but we need to prosecute it prudently.
posted by Marcus Aurelius @ 4:02 PM
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