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Teaching a Pig to Sing and Democracy in Iraq by A. Cooper
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Attempting to establish democracy in Iraq is a little like teaching a pig to sing. It can't be done and annoys the pig. Iraq and the pig analogy is meant as no disrespect but basic common sense. When we were recently embarrassed in our aborted siege of Fallujah, what we were attempting to do is teach a pig to sing.
We've never grasped the fact that most of Iraq is tribal. And, the tribes aren't interested in democracy, but mainly the tribe. The tribes are a little like the Montanyards of Vietnam-the Montanyards were surely not fanatics, only practical in wanting to maintain their own identity. What they shared in common was a history of resistance to outside force.
Sandra Mackey in her book,The Reckoning, chronicles a really good history of central Iraq. For hundreds of years, the people of the high desert, north and south of Baghdad, survived all the conquering hordes by joining with others in tribal alliances. They developed as a kind of country within a country. Over the years, they have remained tribal Muslims by smuggling and graft mostly. They give their allegiance not to the government, but the tribe. And, this will not change.
Saddam, for instance, belonged to another tribe and it was from them that he took his loyalists and trusted them. Fallujah is a typical example of what we have gotten ourselves into. They can't be governed. We had a chance to handle the situation, but politics won out with the call being made at the highest levels of stupid American policy. This ain't no way to fight a war-Vietnam revisited.
After the killing of the contractors and the desecration of their bodies, we were out to show the insurgents you're going to pay. The same as we are after the killers of Nick Berg-yes, let's don't hold our breath--we are a paper tiger. We had a chance to get rid of foreign insurgents, kick some ass, punish a few; and, get a little revenge. In short, we are not going to do it; and, consequently, we have to get the hell out of Dodge.
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Some VietVets View of War by Kelly Thomas
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War is delightful (only) to those who have not experienced it." -- Desiderius Erasmus
As Vietvets we continue to watch the Iraqi war and are beginning to see more and more similarities to Vietnam. The bad news dominates the war: one thing right after another; and, suddenly, everything is bad. This happened in Vietnam: the media zeroed in on what all the "big bad Americans" were doing and people began to view the war and the soldier as one and the same.
MyLai jumped to the front of what was wrong with us fighting in Vietnam. The prisoner abuse scandal suddenly is the story of Iraq-no one seems to remember that we are at war. And, of course, the Pentagon who has lived by the media--Rumsfeld loving it--now, is dying by the media. Everything is wrong and how to fix it: rename the prison from Abu Ghraib to Redemption. Oh yes, this is going to do it. Don't blame yourself for putting untrained soldiers with no leadership as prison guards.
Congress suddenly became experts: calling all the generals to testify when in fact, they should be in Iraq making decisions. God help us.
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Pelosi playing to the Frisco Crowd by Norm Trujillo
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I thought the remarks by house minority speaker, Pelosi, about the president went beyond the pale. It was very undignified for a national politician. For San Fran, it is plays well where the bizarre is normal; but, since she speaks for all Democrats, calling the president incompetent was pretty shoddy.
She would do well to listen to a Democrat, the late Pat Moynihan that I think is heftily above her tarnished statue, "Am I ashamed to speak on behalf of a less than perfect country? Find me a better one. Do I suppose there are societies which are free from sin? No, I don't! Do I think ours is, on balance, incomparably the most hopeful set of human relations the world has? Yes, I do. Have we done obscene things? Yes, we have. How did our people learn about them? They learned through newspapers and television."
We're at a bad spot now and instead of bashing the president for his failures, let's figure out a way to beat feet out of Iraq. We didn't learn any lessons, relatively speaking, from Vietnam. For God's sake, when we get out of this mess, let's learn some.
We tend, as Americans, to wallow in our shortcomings. Who knows why? Maybe guilt for what we have. We've done some pretty great things over the course of our life as a nation, although I don't think that Iraq will be one of them. The history of the region is 2000 years of war and insanity and we thought we could overcome that--give me a break.
In a land peopled by fanatics, who are lining up to die, go to heaven and collect their 93 virgins, we don't stand a chance. Let's say we had good motives, have freed the Iraqis from Saddam and now, let's devote our energies to figuring out how to get the hell out.
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StoryOf Captain Yee and The US Army by KT
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Of all the sorry stories about our misadventures into the realm of terrorism, the one about Chaplain Yee is the most disturbing and frightening to me. In a sense, what it represents is something about as un-American as anything I've seen.
I am disturbed by the fact that the chaplains and professionals in the Army didn't support him in any way as far as I can see. This poor guy is blindfolded, placed in shackles, and languishes in jail, solitary confinement, for 76 days--a West Point graduate, a Captain in the United States Army. All charges eventually dropped, flimsiest of excuses for ever having filed them in the first place.
This is what disturbs me about Bush's folks and his war on terrorism: they don't seem to use common sense--this sort of idiocy is destroying our way of life: charging people with little evidence, keeping them forever without any justification, and a total lack of response to what is happening with them. All in the name of terrorism?
Yee's military career is finished. He got what is commonly called a "letter of reprimand" which he appealed and it was even thrown out, the only smart thing the Army appears to have done. But, any idea of him continuing as a chaplain--might as well pack his bags.
In a sense, we probably shouldn't even have Muslim chaplains in the Army, not that many real Muslims anyway; we could handle it by contract easily. Unfortunately, the Chief of Chaplains was so eager to jump on the bandwagon of PC and void a tradition older than the country. But, the disturbing thing is how bogus it all was and how little support he received from those who should have been on the forefront in making sure justice was done.
Obviously, Yee was not as pure as the driven snow. He had a sexual liaison with a Lieutenant at Guantanomo for which they later charged him. Adultery while emotionally detrimental usually to all those involved when it becomes public, it is rarely prosecuted in the military. If it was, the Army would have to be disbanded. If the transgression effects good order and discipline, (the catch all phrase) or is disruptive to the degree that it is so known that something has to be done: Maybe?
For instance, one of my good buddies, after Vietnam, became a general, got involved with his secretary, got a court martial--mostly for being stupid, as everybody knew it--he was court martialed but even then was allowed to resign from the military with a lower rank.
I don't mean to downplay it but in Captain Yee's case, apparently the affair was secret until the Army tried to conjure something up.
This is really fascinating: Yee can't talk to the media as the Army has ordered him not to do so. If he does, he might face further prosecution or discipline. Now, how stupid is this: everybody in the Army is talking to the media and Rumsfeld continues to lead the parade.
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