Fight To Win

[MM38084]

There are really only two choices: Win the war in Iraq, or accept defeat. Don't deceive yourself. That's the debate that has now begun.

Politicians being politicians, "defeat" is never called "defeat." Diplomatic sleights-of-hand are preferred instead. People talk of "internationalizing" the conflict, of turning it over to the United Nations or NATO, of empowering free Iraqis to fight on their own against the Baathists and their foreign Jihadi allies. Serious people know that if the world's only superpower can't win this war, no lesser power will be up to the task.

If we accept defeat in Iraq -- as we accepted defeat 10 years ago in Somalia and 20 years ago in Lebanon -- we should not deceive ourselves about what will follow.

The atrocities of 9-11 were the consequence of Washington's earlier decisions not to seriously fight back against the terrorists who had attacked us repeatedly in the 1980s and '90s. Surrender in Iraq will save the lives of some soldiers today, but it will cost the lives of civilians tomorrow. How many, no one can predict.If we make up our mind to win, what do we have to do? Quite a lot.

Although Pentagon planners undoubtedly have been thinking about the challenges posed by low-intensity conflicts for years, it appears their Iraq battle plan has not survived contact with the enemy. Battle plans seldom do.

After toppling Saddam Hussein, President Bush did predict that Iraq would remain a "dangerous" and "difficult" place. But the enemy's strength -- and his ability to play the Western media like a violin -- was obviously underestimated.

Our military planners knew there were thousands of enemy combatants whom we had not managed to kill or capture. Surely, they knew that those combatants had ample stores of weapons and cash. Surely, they knew that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had sworn to turn Iraq into "another Beirut" and that preventing Iraq from becoming free and democratic also would be a foreign policy goal of Saudi Arabia, Iran and several other countries in the region.

And surely, they must have known that we had inadequate intelligence networks set up within Iraq. That could only mean that it would be difficult for our troops to find the terrorists. By contrast, it would be simple for the terrorists to find our troops.

The lack of adequate intelligence in Iraq and other parts of the world is the most severe disability America suffers today in Iraq and in the broader war on terrorism. This disability is, in turn, the consequence of a series of bad decisions that began as far back as the 1970s.

No one is saying that such spying is easy, but it's possible and necessary. Americans did manage to enlist in al-Qaida in recent years -- those Americans just didn't happen to be working for the CIA. And it appears that those allied with terrorists have managed to penetrate Guantanamo. That should tell us something.

In the short run, we can -- and must -- utilize Iraqis as intelligence assets. Such individuals should have been recruited and trained long ago. Now, one can only hope a furious effort is being made -- appealing to patriotism in some cases, and using less savory means when required.We also have to make it clear that we will not tolerate state sponsorship of terrorism.

Without state sponsorship, obtaining weapons, money, passports and other terrorist tools becomes difficult. Without state sponsorship, terrorists must stay on the run. Under such conditions, it is harder for them to hatch sophisticated plots. If diplomatic demarches are not successful in getting dictators to shut training camps, other means must be employed.

Don't deceive yourself. There is really only one choice: Fight to win, in Iraq and elsewhere. The foreign jihadis now in Iraq will either die in a war against American troops there -- or they will go on to fight American civilians on other fronts. They're not about to return to Ramallah and Riyadh to open aerobics studios.

[MM38084]

Despite America's relentless and lethal pursuit, the Al Qaeda terrorist network is alive, and its dangerous ideology is spreading. While that conclusion in a United Nations report released Monday is not reassuring to a country that suffered the worst terrorist attack in history, it may serve as a clarion call to the civilized world that this is not just America's fight. Terrorists have their targets, sure, but they aren't very discriminating about where they strike or the fate of anyone who happens to be nearby.

Having shown the world what they are capable of doing, they can use fear as a disruptive weapon. Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kenya warned American citizens of a potential terrorist attack on two hotels in downtown Nairobi, where two bank buildings were evacuated because of a bomb threat. The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned of renewed attacks on housing complexes for Westerners in Riyadh and barred diplomats from visiting them at night.

The UN report said global authorities have had a difficult time cutting off the money that flows to Al Qaeda through business and charity fronts. The Security Council committee that monitors terrorism also said it was "disappointing" that only 4,000 members of Al Qaeda or the Taliban have been arrested.

If that's not enough to make people edgy, the Markle Foundation released a report Tuesday showing the federal government since 9/11 has become only marginally better at gathering, sharing and responding to information about possible terrorist acts. The report was produced by a task force of security and technology experts who concluded that the government is still more concerned with controlling information than distributing it.

All of this suggests there's a long way to go in this unprecedented combat against a shadowy and unscrupulous enemy, and that information may be the most effective weapon. In that cause, the federal government helped itself Tuesday by scrapping a post-9/11 rule that required special registration for men and boys entering the United States from 25 mostly Middle Eastern countries with suspected links to terrorism.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to make this excellent post.Seems to me you've hit the nail square on the head on all points and I appriciate your going to the trouble to do so.

[philly]

I agree with Doc. Thank you for taking the time to post this information.

[Boats]

No more of this cut and run shit - this crap gotta stop. If you can't finish what you start - don't start it at all - Very depressing!