On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 03:45:01 -0700, "Leadfoot"
wrote:
"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
.. .
The main point I'd like to leave you with is that in major
international relations issues the solutions are never simple and a
firm calendar for completion isn't possible.
Does it occur to you that if the Iraqi's aren't up to the task by 1-19-09
they never will be?
I reposted the above. You can't tell me that you weren't ever involved in a
project that from the outside looked doable but once you were in you
realized it was doomed for failure.
I hope we don't start hearing jokes like...
Want to buy a Iraqi AK47? Never been fired and only dropped once.
I think the 2009 date is well within the realm of possibilty. Been
reading the last few days about some serious draw-down in combat arms
folks starting by the end of this year and ramping up in '07. What the
rate will be, what the numbers will be and whether or not the Iraqi
security forces will be practically or only theoretically viable
remains to be seen.
But, your specific date is tough to accept. When I was on the Board of
Trustees of the library district in Colo. Springs, we grappled with
what age to provide full adult access at--the establishment, as many
fundamentalist religious types wanted, of a fixed age (like 18 years
old) is impractical. Is someone a child at 17 years/364 days and then
suddenly mature the next morning? End result of that debate was that
it was parental responsibility, not the library district's.
Number of coups was small during the period of US combat involvement
and those were during the last year or so when Vietnamization was
pretty much completed (late '71--'72.) Actually a case could be made
that it was precisely the withdrawal of American military
stabilization and support which led to belief that the coups could be
successful.
I think you might be thinking of Cambodia Thieu was in office until about
9
days before the communist took over. Albeit the results of the election he
won to take office looked pretty crooked to me.
I thought you were referring to 1971 when Big Minh attempted to
overthrow the government.
Right wing dictatorships are no better than communist dictatorships when you
get down to it.
That is the fundamental problem of the Truman Doctrine and George F.
Kennan's policy of "containment." When you adopt a policy of resisting
communism anywhere in the world, you find yourself allied with a lot
of unsavory fascists.
And, you think the postulated victory of the Viet Minh in '56 would
have been pristine? The Geneva Accords were fairly typical
international diplomatic practice of the period--providing a
US/Eurocentric overlay on a formerly colonial region with disasterous
results.
You should have watched the last two episodes of Battlestar Galactica. They
portrayed how stupid the voters could be and the lengths that those who
think the voters are stupid would go to. And in the real world I shudder to
think what will result if the countries of the Muslim world have free
elections. I don't think the results would be best for the US. Yet I still
think they should be held.
There's another episode of BSG called "Scar". It's a prettty good
perspective of life as a fighter pilot.
Why would I want to watch that? It might endanger all of those
stereotypes I've nurtured for so many years. ;-)))
I still remember "duck and cover" drills from second grade. Do you?
ROTFLMAO second grade for me started at Offutt AFB and ended at Grand Forks
AFB, SAC HQ and Grand Forks with its B-52 Bomb Group and 300 Minutemen silos
were numero uno as nuclear targets. Neither school district even bothered
with it
I was in Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in Chicago and the
Sisters of St. Francis probably didn't have the geo-political insights
of Curt LeMay at the time.
As for "80% of who(m) wish we would leave"--I've not seen any polling
data of Iraqi's that would offer those numbers.
Ok let's hear your numbers VBG
Still waiting for your numbers
No numbers forthcoming. My point is that accurate polling in Iraq is
not going on. There is a bit of anecdotal opinionizing by the main
stream media, but no one is taking scientific polls that have any
reliability or validity.
What I commented on was not the length of time but the assertion that
at the end of the current administration there was some sort of
obligation to leave a clean slate for the incoming group--something
which has NEVER before occurred in any presidency.
I think I'm givng him a lot more time than he really needs to be blunt
And, I think that it is impossible to define exactly how much time
will be needed for a complicated task. There can be goals, but a fixed
calendar date is impossible.
I heven't even seen a roadmap with goals yet
We probably don't get invited to the Pentagon, the State Dept, or
CENTCOM staff meetings as much as we should these days.
I've stayed away from VISTA, but been reading eagerly about it. Should
coincide with my rising need for a new system around Jan/Feb of next
year!
Maybe if there's a Palace Cobra royalty check in the new year mail...
Your not a millionaire yet??? Or are too many cheapskates checking it out
at the library
Wanna be a millionaire? Don't write non-fiction books (unless you've
got textbook university franchise!). You can do better for hourly wage
rate at the local McBurger-Wend-Bell-Sonic.
Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com