RE: [Marxism] Army War College publishes critique of Iraq war, 'war on terrorism'

["Eli Stephens" <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark wrote:

> For those who've been under the guns and the bombs, what's important is
> whether or not the assault continues.  Those who are not religious
> fanatics are likely unconcerned about the mixed motives and
> contradictory concerns of those who might want to stop attacking them.

Those last six words are the key. No such recommendation, or implication, is
in the report as far as I know.

> Look up "ruling class, split among" in the index of your Marxism 101
> textbook.

I guess it depends on one's assessment. I don't believe a split over an
assessment of the past, similar to the disagreement that leading Democratic
candidate Dean has ("we shouldn't have done it but we did so now we have to
finish the job") is likely to affect the future course of events.

> Personally, I'm not at all surprised that those Americans being put in
> harm's way would have serious questions as to the value of the risk, but
> I am pleasantly surprised that part of the military establishment not
> only shares those doubts but is willing to say so publicly at this
> stage.

I'm not going to look up references, but it's quite well known that there
were members of the military establishment who were opposed to the invasion
BEFORE it happened. However that did not stop it from happening.

The reason I said what I said derives largely from the last two paragraphs
of the article:

> The report concludes with several recommendations. Some are fairly
> non-controversial, such as >increasing the size of the army and Marine
> Corps, a position that appears to be gathering support in >the US Congress.

> But it also says the US should scale back its ambitions in Iraq, and be
> prepared to settle for a "friendly >autocracy" there rather than a genuine
> democracy.

None of these recommentations suggests any support for any position that I,
or I presume most people on this list, would support, and none suggests
anything of any use to Iraqis.

It MAY be that this report will offer some ammunition for critics of FUTURE
invasions of Syria, North Korea, etc. If so, it would definitely be a good
thing. My impression, though, is that the Bushites are well aware of having
over-reached with their two-war, smaller military strategy, and that,
whatever harsh words towards Syria etc. are forthcoming, no such invasion is
coming any time soon. I think it's far more likely the U.S. is going to
intervene next militarily in Latin America, and that kind of intervention is
more likely to be some kind of "in-and-out coup" like Panama which isn't
going to be affected by this report, except in its recommendation (supported
by many leading Democrats) for a LARGER military, which if anything makes
further interventions MORE likely.

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