Neocon sleight of hand alert!
Moves to remove Admiral Fallon from CENTCOM are now becoming clear. I am sure that the Neocons are quite upset that the Admiral helped derail their plans to initiate war with Iran. After reading this, it looks like the next game plan is to discredit the Admiral, replace him with General Petraeus, stop the withdrawal of the surge troops and restart the Iran war effort.
First of all, the surge was just that. It was a deployment beyond normal ability to support such numbers. The primary cost here is troop morale and effectiveness. Eventually, they could disintegrate into a useless mob. We are sending them on multiple tours, and telling them to stay longer. If we keep the surge troops in Iraq, it is drifting towards permanent overseas deployment in a combat zone. This is way too much.
In any case, the surge did not accomplish much except a drawdown in violence that cannot be maintained. We are simply back to 2005 levels. No solution.
And I have commented on what a disaster war with Iran would be, out and out military defeat for the United States. Perhaps these Neocons will not be happy until US forces are destroyed. Admiral Fallon is one of the courageous people who are working to see that this does not happen.
I do not want to hog a lot of space here, but if people are interested, I can put up my estimate of casualties if America attacks Iran.
Posted: January 31st, 2008 under Iran, Iraq, Where's the Outrage.
Comments: 5
Comments
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: January 31, 2008, 5:17 pm
Max, there is no such thing as hogging space here. I’d be curious, but isn’t the official policy of America that the only good Iranian is a dead Iranian? After all, we were founded on the idea that the only good native American was a dead one. Now centuries later, one of the crimes of this young century was Rice-a-Roni and Bush watching and waiting while Israel killed its neighbors’ children. Kenya, not their problem. And so on…
Comment from Sasha
Time: January 31, 2008, 5:51 pm
I thought the plan was to send General Peaches to NATO ??
Comment from Max
Time: January 31, 2008, 6:20 pm
OK, I will post the Iran stuff. Sasha, Max Boot seems to think that General Peaches will be wasted at NATO. He wants to replace Adm. Fallon with General Peaches, (I like that) and keep General Odierno as his deputy.
A little background on General Odierno. He commanded the US 4th infantry division in the initial invasion. He was one of the harshest US leaders on the Iraqi population, his actions had a direct impact on the rise of the guerrilla Resistance. He fired on demonstrators in Fallujah, and helped to bring on the revolt of that city. He also did things like surrounding villages with barbed wire, and leaving only one gate for entry/exit. This was in an effort to control what was originally a minor insurgency problem. Well his efforts only inflamed it, and look where we are now.
Frankly, I believe the Iraqi’s would have revolted against our presence no matter what we did. But people like General Odierno simply helped it rise faster, and in a deadly fashion.
In any case, Max Boot seems to think that these two officers are the best to run CENTCOM. They would then be in a position to help an Iran war happen.
Frankl
Comment from Umous Akwitt
Time: February 1, 2008, 9:22 am
A very eye-opening article Max, send a copy to the joint chiefs , PLEASE .
Corporations and banks are the proponents of war and the only ones to profit from it, we are a very long way from ending this idiotic scenario with Iran. Max, China and Russia will also have their say if their oil supplies from Iran are threatened, therefore I think McCain should be our choice as president, after all he is the only one with experience in these matters. (tongue in cheek)
On the plus side, a war would be a boost to Michigan’s economy, General Motors could mass produce armored vehicles, (unless it would be more prudent to produce them in China) of course we could not ship these vehicles to our isolated troops, but we could sell to Israel at a loss. By the way, where is Israel in this equation?
People, it has always been the policy of this nation to take on tasks in a headlong, boisterous manner, so I say why change now, if we’re going to bring this country to it’s knees, let’s do it big and loud. Sort of like a celebration to “repuglican bible belt rule”.
Comment from Max
Time: February 1, 2008, 1:12 pm
Russia’s Putin has made no bones about the fact that they consider Iran to be somewhat under their protection.
Right now, the Russian’s are very big on showing how they are making a come back, both militarily and politically, from the Soviet collapse. Such a feeling was inevitable, and the best thing we could do is sit back and let them beat their chests for a while. They will eventually settle down. That would be the mature option.
However, Putin has been somewhat unclear if he also means Iran is under the Russian nuclear umbrella. And since our heroic Vice President casually authorized the use of some 20 nuclear “bunker buster” bombs on Iran as part of a target list that has eventually blown out to some 1,200 sites to attack, we are now on dangerous ground. These weapons are roughly the yield of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima, and could kill an estimated 1 million people each with fallout across Iran, Pakistan, and India. We really do know how to make friends, don’t we?
As the Cold War dragged on, we did find a certain way to communicate with the Soviets. We both only went so far in various situations. Our spies did not kill theirs, and theirs did not kill ours. Basically. This country was in their orbit, that country in ours. We both knew that to over step could lead to miscalculations that could end humanity.
Russia can still destroy the US in 30 minutes. It is the only power on the planet that really has this capability. Moreover, it is my guess that the old Cold War “behind the scenes” communications have broken down.
George Bush has very needlessly provoked Russia. The installation of an anti missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic is particularly awful. The system does not work, it is just something to satisfy some US contractor. After 9/11, the Russian’s were sympathetic to us. George Bush has destroyed this, and brought us back to confrontation. And all those bases in the various former Soviet Republic’s of Central Asia were also a stupid provocation. And useless to us.
So now we possible Russian nuclear coverage of Iran in case of an American attack. Russia can still exterminate every American in 30 minutes. This makes any Neocon fantasy about bombing Iran absolute insanity. Things can get out of hand very quickly when leaders must make decisions based on missile flight times.
I thought we were done with this nuclear annihilation thing with the end of the Cold War. George Bush has managed to bring it back.
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