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[i]I noticed that Sniper asked for a link and vowed he would refute each assertion one-by-one.
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And i noticed that no such link was ever provided.
Since i've come to this board i have factually bashed the living snot out of Rummy and Co, yet here i am being painted as an unreasonable 'neo con type'.
There's just no winning with you leftists.
Iraq was/is a total disaster in many ways, but some of the charges leveled by the left(or fluff job asssessments made by the right), are pure nonsense.
TPFDL, Shinseki, Abizaid, Clark, and McCaffrey(a former CO of mine BTW) all said we needed at least 385k troops(some said as many as 500k).
One does not need to be a general to understand the words coming out of the mouths of several people who WERE generals, and who have gone out of their way to publically SKEWER Rumnamara and Franks.
The warplan was undeniably optimistic, it definitely neglected the all-important "post kinetic ops"(as franks would put it), and it DEFINITELY utilized a force that was at best 1/2 the size as was required to do the job right.
I have read three books on this subject, have had extensive conversations both in person, via IM, PM, and bbs with NCOs and officers from all over the world (ranging from an Indian Brigadier to an Israeli Corporal to a field grade west point instructor who commanded the very first Stryker Co in Iraq). I run a military board with over 1600 members, several hundred of whom have actually served in Iraq AND in A-stan. My sister was a medevac pilot in Iraq for a tour and a half too.
So yeah, i feel like i have a pretty good idea what's going on. And it's not good.
The problem is political, it is not military. There is simply no will to win. Not on the part of the leadership, and not on the part of the American public.
So in the end, when we lose and come running home like beaten dogs, no one should be surprised at all. Quite frankly, we're asking for what's coming due to our own collective stupidity.