Via Ace: Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack from the Brookings Institution have written a piece for the NYT, in which they admit that a U.S. victory is possible in Iraq.
I have to tell you, the very idea that this is a surprise to some people, grates on my nerves. Yes, of course, we just might win. And if we weren’t constrained by the sort of PC rules of engagement, favored by Democrats, if we weren’t constantly battling a propaganda war here on the home front against liberal peace activists, if we weren’t constantly dealing with leaks from the CIA, undermining our war effort, if we didn’t have to endure the constant drumbeat of negativity and defeatism from the Democrats, we might just be further along by now in our course toward victory.
In spite of all that, the Troop Surge is now having the positive results hoped for, and even The New York Times can’t deny it. They can see the writing on the wall.
This is an amazing turnaround for these gents, who wrote very critical but fair articles about the reconstruction a couple of years ago. The spate of good news out of Iraq is encouraging, but I’m very concerned about the Democrats’ complete lack of comprehension of what a war (or in this case, insurgency, terrorism, vigilantism, and widespread paramilitary criminality) really is.
That is, it’s not just a case of giving our guys the “right” equipment and pursuing the “right” strategy – victory is never guaranteed when your enemy can also change his equipment, manpower, and strategies. We can anticipate some setbacks along the way here, and the Democrats will seize upon those setbacks as evidence that “the war is lost” (which would be more properly phrased “the reconstruction is lost”). So all the progress we’ve made and will hopefully continue to make is unlikely to mean anything unless the polls start showing a big swing in public opinion.
The outcome of war is usually unpredictable, with retreats and advances, disasters and triumphs, and brilliance and miscalculation, all along the way. This is why Obama’s chiding Hillary for voting for the war “without an exit strategy” is puerile nonsense. You never have an exit strategy, other than victory, when you enter a war. You can only have an exit strategy if you plan to lose.
And that seems to be exactly where the Dems are coming from.
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It’s been said before by others, (many times), but I’ll say it again, what’s good for America, ( victory, good economy) is bad for the Democrats.
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