The Gettysburg of This War

Fred Kagan writes about the significance of President Bush arriving in Iraq on America’s Labor Day Holiday. Kagan notes the American dignitaries that the President brought with him and Iraq dignitaries that joined him. And most importantly Kagan writes of the significance of the location within Iraq of this coalition of high government dignitaries of America and Iraq – Anbar Province.

And thus Kagan is comparing the Presidential visit to Anbar as a historical Presidential visit to Gettysburg: a point in time when the fortunes of war are turning to the favor of the legitimate representatives of Government as opposed to the representatives of rebellion and illegitimate authority.

JRH 9/4/07
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The Gettysburg of This War
This Bush visit could well mark a key turning point in the war in Iraq and the war on terror.

By Frederick W. Kagan
September 3, 2007 5:00 PM
National Review Online

President Bush’s Labor Day visit to Iraq should have surprised no one who was paying attention. At such a critical point in the debate over Iraq policy, it was almost inconceivable that he would fly to and from Australia without stopping in Iraq. What was surprising was the precise location and nature of the visit. Instead of flying into Baghdad and surrounding himself with his generals and the Iraqi government, Bush flew to al Asad airfield, west of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province. He brought with him his secretaries of State and Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the commander of U.S. Central Command. He was met at al Asad by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kemal al Maliki, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Vice Presidents Adel Abdul Mehdi and Tariq al Hashemi. In other words, Bush called together all of the leading political and military figures in his administration and the Iraqi government in the heart of Anbar Province. If ever there was a sign that we have turned a corner in the fight against both al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sunni insurgency, this was it.

Anbar, as everyone knows, has been one of the hotbeds and the most important base for both the Sunni rejectionist insurgency and al Qaeda in Iraq since 2003. It has been one of the most violent provinces in Iraq, and one of the most dangerous for American soldiers and Marines, until recently. Now it is one of the safest — safe enough for the war cabinet of the United States of America to meet there with the senior leadership of the government of Iraq to discuss strategy. Instead of talking about how to convince the Anbaris that the Sunni will not retake power in Iraq any time soon, Bush, Maliki, Petraeus, Talabani, and Crocker talked about how to get American and Iraqi aid and reconstruction money flowing more rapidly to the province as a reward for its dramatic and decisive turn against AQI and against the Sunni rejectionist insurgency. In any other war, with any other president, this event would be recognized for what it is: the sign of a crucial victory over two challenges that had seemed both unconquerable and fatal. It should be recognized as at least the Gettysburg of this war, to the extent that ... More at SlantRight

Don't Abandon the Iraqis

Wow! Fred Kagan writing for the Weekly Standard makes an excellent case staying the course in Iraq instead of abandoning America’s National Interests.

The Dhimmicrats wish to sell out America in defeat and trip into Islamofascist propaganda in which al-Qaeda can claim a victory.

JRH

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Don't Abandon the Iraqis
The high stakes of the war.
by Frederick W. Kagan
05/28/2007, Volume 012, Issue 35
The Weekly Standard



From time to time, nations face fundamental tests of character. Forced to choose between painful but wise options, and irresponsible ones that offer only temporary relief from pain, a people must decide what price they are willing to pay to safeguard themselves and their children and to do the right thing. America has faced such tests before. Guided by Abraham Lincoln, we met our greatest challenge during the Civil War and overcame it, despite agonizing doubts about the possibility of success even into 1864. The Greatest Generation recovered from the shock of Pearl Harbor and refused to stop fighting until both Germany and Japan had surrendered unconditionally. A similar moment is upon us in Iraq. What will we do?


America has vital national interests in Iraq. The global al Qaeda movement has decided to defeat us there--not merely to establish a base from which to pursue further tyranny and terror, but also to erect a triumphant monument on the ruins of American power. Al Qaeda claims to have defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and its recruiting rests in part on that boast. If America flees the field of battle against this foe in Iraq, al Qaeda will have gained an even more powerful recruiting slogan. That is why al Qaeda fighters from across the Muslim world are streaming into MORE ...

No Third Way in Iraq

Fred Kagan believes there is no “third way” in dealing with Iraq. Kagan lists two choices: “stay and try to win, or cut, run, and lose.” This is a fairly neoconservative black and white scenario. Kagan senses any plan to find a middle course will just muddle the situation and end up in failure.

The middle course is what finished America’s involvement with Vietnam. A middle course will make left wing comparisons to Vietnam become an actuality. I hate to say it but “stay the course” is the best plan of success in Iraq.

Staying the course is the end game. The means to the end game has to change. America is dangerously close to the failure of the middle course strategy. There are obvious reasons for this – politics at home.

The “cut and run” crowd give the appearance of expediting leaving Iraq like a partial birth abortion. Take must of the body out and kill the Iraqi option with a lethal injection to the neck, then chop the head off. Shazzam! An unpopular war is ended with only the moral implications to deal with.

The “stay the course” crowd has the correct end in mind but are allowing politics to unsettle the execution of a winning plan.

So let’s change the plan and win.