Broken Masterpieces

December 08, 2003

Admiting When You Are Wrong

I'm seeing and hearing plenty of grumblings about the state of our current military. I'm not an expert but as a friend of mine said "The Clinton Admin. was regularly and rightfully taken to task for ignoring military readiness concerns; this administration has to be held to the same standards." Since 9/11 the purpose of our country has changed. We are all about stopping and preventing terrorism. These are worthy standards for our country and our military. The problem seems to be that the military is stretched too thin. I agree that we need modernization of the military but while that is happening we must take care of the troops we have now.

I just think it's time for some of our leadership to actually admit that we've miscalculated on Iraq along with some of our other obligations. Just level with the American people, especially the military. It seems that it is impossible in Washington to admit that you were wrong on something. Answers are spun in order to fit the letter of the law and not the spirit. What happens if something blows up in Korea? We need to get back to the 2-front policy; fighting 2 major wars at once.

I will now admit that the Iraqi post-war effort is bigger than I though it would be. Now, what do we do? Do we cut and run? No. Do we not level with our troops? No. What we need to do is fix the problems while maintaining the modernization that does need to occur. Still, when it gets down to it, bad guys always need to really be rooted out by good guys on the ground, ready and prepared.

Posted by Tim at December 8, 2003 09:44 PM
Comments

I'm convinced that, from a geopolitical and military strategy perspective, we did the right thing in taking down Baathist Iraq. I support this President and his objectives. I am, however, somewhat disappointed at our failure to properly resource this most important endeavor.
We didn't want to honest contemplate or confront, head on, the possibility that Iraq would be our "baby" for an extended period of time, so that contingency was never subjected to the proper vetting process. It's not that we never had a Plan "B" and are now making it up as go; Plan "A" was so much more politically and financially palatable.
By avoiding the inevitable for too long, we have made it harder on ourselves but, make no mistake about it, there is no retreat. We do, however, run the very real risk of wearing out our too small contingent of combat soldiers and their equipment. They need augmentation and resourse support right now.
The Generals, albeit at considerable risk to their careers, need to speak out and demand that they be given the personnel and dollar resources required for the accomplishment of this historically vital mission.

Posted by: randy bell at December 9, 2003 04:03 PM