Comments on: The Surge http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/28/the-surge/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:05:58 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: The Thunder Run http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/28/the-surge/comment-page-1/#comment-26276 The Thunder Run Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:48:46 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1217#comment-26276 <strong>Web Reconnaissance for 07/29/2008...</strong> A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.... Web Reconnaissance for 07/29/2008…

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often….

]]> By: Mark Eichenlaub http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/28/the-surge/comment-page-1/#comment-26274 Mark Eichenlaub Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:09:26 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1217#comment-26274 Nice post Mr. Smith. Nice post Mr. Smith.

]]> By: Belmont Club » The wrong place http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/28/the-surge/comment-page-1/#comment-26271 Belmont Club » The wrong place Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:33:51 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1217#comment-26271 [...] This discounts the effect of operations prior to the 20% increase in troop strength in Iraq that is commonly regarded as the start of the Surge. It discounts improvements in intelligence gathering, the creation of the Iraqi Army, the election of the Iraqi government, dismantling of the insurgency’s lines of communication of the insurgency, the change in tactics — a whole host of things — almost as if the Surge started from tabula rasa; a blank slate. Future historians can debate whether General Petraeus and George W. Bush won an accidental victory, like a monkeys who have luckily typed out Shakespeare’s XXIXth sonnet or whether the success owed something to skill and intelligence. [...] [...] This discounts the effect of operations prior to the 20% increase in troop strength in Iraq that is commonly regarded as the start of the Surge. It discounts improvements in intelligence gathering, the creation of the Iraqi Army, the election of the Iraqi government, dismantling of the insurgency’s lines of communication of the insurgency, the change in tactics — a whole host of things — almost as if the Surge started from tabula rasa; a blank slate. Future historians can debate whether General Petraeus and George W. Bush won an accidental victory, like a monkeys who have luckily typed out Shakespeare’s XXIXth sonnet or whether the success owed something to skill and intelligence. [...]

]]> By: GI http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/28/the-surge/comment-page-1/#comment-26266 GI Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:11:06 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1217#comment-26266 Herschel as always excellent article however don't expect facts to change one's political views of the surge. For some crediting the military with implementing a successful counterinsurgency in Iraq would feel like they are crediting President Bush with something which they cannot bring themselves to do. While the full scope of what was happening in Iraq in regards to the tribal awakening and the surge has long been described and discussed on great sites like this, Bill Roggio, Michael Yon, Small Wars Journal, etc. the political left is now trying to rewrite the history of what happened in Iraq to discredit the efforts of the US military. I am pretty sure that Kahl knew full well the full context of MAJ Smith's paper but intentionally quoted it out of context in order to score political points. The fact that Obama is receiving advice from such a person is unfortunate. Herschel as always excellent article however don’t expect facts to change one’s political views of the surge. For some crediting the military with implementing a successful counterinsurgency in Iraq would feel like they are crediting President Bush with something which they cannot bring themselves to do.

While the full scope of what was happening in Iraq in regards to the tribal awakening and the surge has long been described and discussed on great sites like this, Bill Roggio, Michael Yon, Small Wars Journal, etc. the political left is now trying to rewrite the history of what happened in Iraq to discredit the efforts of the US military. I am pretty sure that Kahl knew full well the full context of MAJ Smith’s paper but intentionally quoted it out of context in order to score political points. The fact that Obama is receiving advice from such a person is unfortunate.

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