What you got here is an installment plan
Posted on June 26th, 2005 by
Donald “east, west, south and north somewhat” Rumsfeld speaks:
Defeating the insurgency may take as long as 12 years, he [Rumsfeld] said, with Iraqi security forces, not U.S. and foreign troops, taking the lead and finishing the job. [Emphasis added, passing of responsibiltiy for messes you created in the original
Wait before you call though:
“Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years,” Rumsfeld said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Apparently, Rumsfeld isn’t using the same calculator as General Myers:
And so, sure, we work on it every day. But I wouldn’t look for results tomorrow. This is a — this — one thing we know about insurgencies is that they last from, you know, three, four years to nine years.
This really isn’t a contradiction or anything, though. I mean the General thinks it may take around a decade, Rumsfeld says it may take around a decade. Plus or minus two years isn’t that much of a contradiction.
On the other hand – what is our government going to do in 9-10 years when the insurgency becomes a political party and takes power through an election? Will they refuse to recognize the legitimacy of elected officials who are former insurgents and come to power on an anti-US platform? Will we topple that government in Iraq the way we topple “unfriendly” democratically elected governments elsewhere?
I think if our priorities and our foreign policy doesn’t shift in the next few years, the answer is going to be “Sadly, Yes.”
So, if I’m reading that right, the seventh and eleventh years should be just peachy.
For those of you too young to remember much of the Nixon years, try googling “Vietnamization,” his plan to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more responsibility for fighting the war. Nixon’s speech on “vietnamization” was given on Nov. 3, 1969, and can be read at http://vietnam.vassar.edu/doc14.html I expect much of Bush’s address tonight will be very similar.
dammit “trenchcoat”, you beat me to it. I was going to mention that Rummy’s comment sounds an awful lot like “Vietmanization”. But hell, we must be mistaken – they’d never repeat a stupid mistake like that.
Rumsfeld’s Rules Learn to say ?I don?t know.? If used when appropriate, it will be often.Develop a few key themes and stick to them. It works. Repetition is necessary. ?Quality.? ?Customers.? ?Innovation.? ?Service.? — whatever! Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.