Down The Middle - Oct 15, 2004 - Printable Version
- Don't Want to Lose Ya in Fallujah
by Down the Middle Everyone’s looking at the pictures coming out of Iraq and they’re really beginning to wonder, what in the “H E Double hockey sticks” is going on? The whole situation is starting to look as though that long dreaded and much feared haunting of “another Viet Nam” has come to pass. Lately, it has been revealed, the C.I.A.’s own think tank warned Bush, only two months before the invasion, that there was a very strong chance of insurgency and that the Saddam loyalists might even team up with the terrorists to fight against us. (Imagine that!). ONCE AGAIN, Bush “blew off” his own intelligence report. (Maybe you recall what happened the last time he did that...9/11!) Apparently, “Mr. Bring It On” didn’t consider the possibility that they might actually, well...“Bring it on”!. (I guess George must have missed those “history” books, too...but I thought surely, he would have seen “Laurence of Arabia”!)
From the outset, the Administration was warned by men such as General Shalikashvili, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the conventional wisdom dictated a force of at least, twice the size of the one being planned but they were soundly rebuffed. The word is, U.S. Marine General Shalikashvili was forced into retirement for his “radical” opposition to the plan. (...but what good is a general anyway, who wastes all his time thinking up ways to prevent unnecessary casualties among his troops?) The Defense Department was ready to light their “Shock and Awe” fireworks display and the Administration figured the Iraqis would be so impressed with our might that they would simply “roll over”. When I look at the strategy (or lack, thereof), I suddenly flash back to MAD MAGAZINE’s Alfred E. Newman, racing toward the cliff at ninety miles an hour with that bright-eyed, one tooth missing, idiot smile on his face and the balloon erupting from his mouth saying, “What, me worry?”
The reality is, it didn’t really matter much to Bush what that intelligence report revealed about our prospects in post invasion Iraq and he certainly wasn’t going to let it worry him because, as I have said before, “Count Your Children”, http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/DownTheMiddle/1008.html , Iraq is a necessary piece of the “BIGGER” plan. THIS is why the Administration rushed to war, without any conclusive evidence (WMDs), and why they are giving you excuses now, like “Saddam was a bad man and the world is a safer place, without him”. (My favorite, of late is “Saddam had the intent.”) Come hell or high water, they HAD to “do” Iraq to pursue the “greater” strategy. The WMDs were no more than the best excuse that they could come up with, at the time.
Indeed, we can now, after a year and a half of an “out-of-control” situation on the ground, begin making very real comparisons to the war in Viet Nam. (At the time, we called it a police action...and we lost over 56,000 “cops”.) There are large areas of the country under insurgent control. The borders are virtually nonexistent. Air strikes are now happening, on almost a daily basis. We can’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys (We just raided a Iraqi National Guard base and confiscated their weapons because we finally realized, the Fallujah Brigade was helping the insurgents of the city fight against us.) and we’re seemingly losing soldiers every day to the “fifty to eighty plus” attacks that we’re suffering, in any given twenty-four hour period. (The only things missing seem to be the jungle, the drugs and the boom-boom girls.) In fact, we have just lost four Defense Department security contractor employees (we used to call them mercenaries) to two suicide bombers, INSIDE the Green Zone, our “secure” area!
The American people have finally realized that the Administration had no workable plan of occupation, going in (other than sweeping up all those flowers) and hasn’t shown any signs of coming up with one, until now. If Iraq is to have any sense of a valid election, (conveniently scheduled for after the first of the year), all of these insurgent controlled areas must be secured and the insurgency destroyed. So, why have we waited these last months, to begin the process of reoccupying these cities?
The reason for this delay is simple. They can’t afford to lose your vote! That’s right, it’s all your fault! The Administration knows, the American people will accept small numbers of losses, even on a regular, daily basis because we have a “professional army” that “signed up” for the job. (The reason being, most of them “signed up” was so they could “HAVE” a job.) Still, the Administration can ill afford to do what is “necessary” in a timely fashion because of the backlash at the polls they might suffer in November. (What is “necessary” being a combined ground/air assault on the insurgent held cities in house to house, block to block fighting that could, God forbid, result in heavy casualties among American forces and of course, hundreds,...maybe thousands for the insurgents and civilians.) By delaying these attacks, we have invited and incurred yet even MORE casualties from this Viet Nam-like attrition we are suffering at the hands of the insurgents, but this tactic may very well save the election for the President.
The Administration knows, these battles should have taken place three months ago but they also realize, the worst of the fighting MUST wait until the November election, because the American public will “absolutely freak” if they see a super-high body count and many “unfortunate sons” and their parents could change their vote. I’m sorry to say, this probably could have all been avoided, if we had planned beyond the “flowers” in the beginning, but now we’re stuck with it.
The first assault in this effort to reoccupy these “rogue” areas began with the retaking of Sumarra, at the beginning of October by the “Big Red One”, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, along with two brigades of Iraqi National Guard. By the third day of the battle, we were claiming victory with 125 “rebels” killed and 88 captured, although the 500 to 1,000 insurgents we had estimated to be holding the city were nowhere to be found. So far, I have not seen any casualty list, for this assault, reported anywhere in the Media and have heard of only one U.S. KIA with no reports of wounded, from the first day of the battle. IF these reports (or lack thereof) are true, we have been very fortunate with our first move to repossess the country. Unfortunately, the tough ones are still to come!
For the second phase of the operation, our troops are now engaging insurgents in the town of Ramadi and are running into much stiffer resistance. There are more casualties being reported and the Iraqi National Guard seems to be a virtual “no-show” in this battle, although American troops on the ground don’t seem to mind too much, as they consider the Iraqi troops unreliable and untrustworthy. Just the same, we will win this battle, as we did in Samarra but the cost will be higher with each insurgent stronghold we assault, the greatest test being Fallujah, a city of over a quarter million residents and temporary crib for the terrorist al-Zarquwi. Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi has just announced his ultimatum for the people of Fallujah to “give up the terrorists” or have their city assaulted and just as quick, the city representatives broke off talks with the government and called for civil disobedience, if U.S. forces enter the city. Two U.S. Marine battalions (1st Exp. Force) are beginning, what looks to be, coordinated ground-air operations to degrade the capabilities of the resistance or to “soften up” the target. With the Presidential election only two weeks away, the full assault will be coming soon.
Ret. Major General McCaferty (He commanded the 24th Mech. Division during the Gulf War and became somewhat notable for destroying an Iraqi armored column, the day after the cease-fire), predicted the assault force on Fallujah will include nine brigades of armor and infantry, and the assault itself would last three or four days. He also said, “IT’LL BE MESSY”!
While others worry about the votes, I can’t help but think about the soldiers and what lies ahead for them.
“I don’t wanna lose ya in Fallujah.”
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Down The Middle Archives:
"Wanted: Dead Or Alive" and "Will Bush Give Us The Lottery Again?" (Down The Middle and To The Left, May 31, 2004)
Shock and Awe or Shuck and Jibe? (Down the Middle, Jun 17, 2004)
"Reefer Madness?" and "Let Freedom Ring!" (Down the Middle and To the Left, Jun 27, 2004)
It's John John (Down the Middle, Jul 21, 2004)
Wanted: An Alternative For Drug Offenders (To The Left, Aug 3, 2004)
WAR IS OVER ...If You Want It (Down The Middle, Aug 23, 2004)
Drug Store Cowboy (Down The Middle, Sep 6, 2004)
"George Bush's 'Other Woman' "and "Count Your Children" (Down The Middle and To The Left, Sep 15, 2004)
John Wayne Died at the Alamo (Down The Middle, Sep 26, 2004)
"The Last Time I had Bush" and "Bush Secrets - Did You Know?" (Down The Middle and To The Left, Oct 3, 2004)
Don't Want to Lose Ya in Fallujah (Down the Middle, Oct 15, 2004)
When Left is Right and Right is Wrong (Down the Middle, Oct 25, 2004)
The Day the Music Died (Down The Middle, Nov 3, 2004)
"Goin’ Up North...Fo’ Freedom" and "Religion or Spirituality?" (Down the Middle and To the Left, Nov 9, 2004)
Scott Peterson Attacks Fallujah (Down The Middle, Nov 14, 2004)
It Can't Happen Here (Down The Middle, Nov 17, 2004)
Natural Born Liberal (Down The Middle, Nov 27, 2004)
Mister, Can You Spare a Dime? (Down The Middle, Dec 2, 2004)
The Monster (Down The Middle, Dec 8, 2004)
And So This is Christmas (Down The Middle, Dec 18, 2004)
"Man of the Year" and "Tribute to a Cowboy - Happy Trails to You" (Down The Middle and To The Left, Dec 26, 2004)
"The Pursuit of Happiness" and "Woman" (Down The Middle, Jan 1, 2005)
"Live Fast, Die Young" and "Social Insecurity" (Down The Middle, Jan 8, 2005)
"George Bush’s Viet Nam" and "The Religious Wrong" (Down The Middle, Jan 15, 2005)
Next Stop, Iran! (Down The Middle, Jan 23, 2005)
"Letter to my Friend, S.K." and "It's the Bomb!" (Down The Middle, Jan 30, 2005)
Strange Days, Indeed! (Down The Middle, Feb 7, 2005)
The Dogs of War (Down the Middle, Feb 20, 2005)
Revolution #9 (Down The Middle, Mar 10, 2005)
With a Little Help From my Friends (Down The Middle, March 19, 2004)
Live and Let Die (Down The Middle, Mar 25, 2005)
Bush's Third Term (Down The Middle, Apr 3, 2005)
The Pope and I (Down The Middle, Apr 12, 2005)
You've Been had....Again! (Down The Middle, Apr 19, 2005)
Hey!!! They're Stealing My Wind! (Down the Middle, May 3, 2005)
Freedom! (Down The Middle, May 28, 2005)
The Big Chill (Down The Middle, Jun 4, 2005)
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The Worm Has Turned (Down The Middle, Jun 25, 2005)
Bushwhacked! (Down The Middle, Jul 3, 2005)
The Coming Wars (Down The Middle, Jul 14, 2005)
Hey, O! Wa S'up? (Down The Middle, Jul 21, 2005)
JFK Assassin Identified! (Down The Middle, Jul 25, 2005)
Say Cheeeese! (Down The Middle, Jul 30, 2005)
The Sun Also Rises (Down The Middle, Aug 9, 2005)
Ten Years After (Down The Middle, Aug 20, 2005)
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Baghdad on the Bayou - The Cavalry's Coming! (Down The Middle, Sep 5, 2005)
Return of the Dragon (Down The Middle, Sep 17, 2005)
OKLAHOMA! Where The Bombs Come Sweeping Down The Plains (Down The Middle, Oct 4, 2005)
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Let the Eagle Soar (Down The Middle, Dec 5, 2005)
Dr. Rumsfeld or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Down The Middle, Jan 10, 2006)
Where Eagles Dare (Down The Middle, Jan 21, 2006)
Through the Looking Glass (Down The Middle, Feb 12, 2006)
Beware the Ides of March (Down The Middle, Feb 23, 2006)
The Last Patriot (Down The Middle, Mar 6, 2006)
Beating the Bushes ...and the Clintons (Down The Middle, Mar 16, 2006)
By Dawn's Early Light (Down The Middle, Apr 11, 2006)
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