Fighting to Win in Iraq
Fighting to Win in Iraq
With the Proper Strategy, Victory in Iraq Is Far More Likely Than People Think
By Frederick W. Kagan, AEI
[...]Senator Joseph Biden recently declared, "If the administration shows it has a blueprint for protecting our fundamental security interests in Iraq, Americans will support it." He is quite right. One of the reasons for the decline in domestic support for the Bush administration's policy in Iraq has been the absence of any such clearly articulated strategy for victory there. CENTCOM has long argued that the key to success is a small American footprint and training Iraqi soldiers to take over as rapidly as possible. CENTCOM commander General John Abizaid has frequently stated that he believes the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq is one of the major catalysts of the insurgency. President Bush has repeatedly declared that "as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down." And so Murtha and others have faithfully repeated these proclamations in support of demands to withdraw.
But the hope of turning the problem over to the Iraqis is an exit strategy, not a strategy for success. We could, as Murtha points out, accomplish this goal tomorrow (or at least in six months), if we didn't care about what happened in Iraq the next day. The goal of winning in Iraq requires a much more complicated plan that does more than prepare the Iraqis to continue the fight, and until recently the administration had failed to present such a plan in any detail.
Kagan goes on to advocate what it takes to win and not to get out.
[...]The policy often enunciated by President Bush--as Iraqi forces stand up, U.S. forces will stand down--is exactly wrong. As more Iraqi Security Forces become available, the United States should make use of them to pursue critical objectives that the paucity of American forces previously made impossible. As more Iraqi forces stand up, they should join American forces in fighting the insurgents. This is the approach that CENTCOM has been quietly adopting in recent months to good effect. Premature drawdowns--or even promises of drawdowns--of U.S. troops would make it impossible.[..]
Posted by Ted Belman at December 9, 2005 09:57 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.israpundit.com/mt-tb.cgi/11620
1
.
Martin
said:
Good points. I agree it's a good idea to take advantage of larger numbers offered by the trainees - and I think that's our aim at least for a time. But the media have done a masterful job of making Iraq look like a swamp of failures rather than a country which is showing real progress. Thus, many in the public are in the dark - and that affects poll numbers (poll-watching is a bad way to run a war, but no one asked me).
Posted by: Martin on December 9, 2005 10:41 PM
2
.
t
said:
One of the big problems is why is the Us there at all? It certainly didnt cause peace, but how can one cause peace amongst barbarians? However despite this fact, why hasn't the Us appropriated oil?????????????? Spoils of war ??????
Posted by: t on December 10, 2005 09:51 AM
Fighting to Win in Iraq
With the Proper Strategy, Victory in Iraq Is Far More Likely Than People Think
By Frederick W. Kagan, AEI
Kagan goes on to advocate what it takes to win and not to get out.
Posted by Ted Belman at December 9, 2005 09:57 PM