Shock and Awe, American Style Remember "Shock and Awe" back in the early 1990s when President George H.W. Bush announced the invasion of Iraq? All of the media talked about the vaunted Republican Guards and how they would be formidable fighters and America would have high casualties.
Striking like a German blitzkrieg which covered huge chunks of real estate in hours, not days or months, American forces pushed Saddam Hussein's government out of Kuwait and decimated his Army and Air Force. Personally, I thought that would have been a good moment to continue the push into Baghdad, depose Hussein, and free his people but America chose not to do so. Oh, I know all of the bit about the UN and listening to its diplomatic droning, but action at that time would likely have avoided huge expenditures on military and foreign aid in the area as well as preclude many casualties.
Saddam was allowed to regroup and live to fight another day and we defeated him with relative ease, yet the turmoil and hatred for America and all things Western by so many in that part of the world led to a nerve wracking war of attrition which dragged on and on. Many days you could never even find an enemy combatant, yet the wounding and death caused by IEDs and other guerrilla devices took its toll.
Over time, Americans lost its will for war as we so often do, and it resulted in the country becoming disenchanted with the second President Bush, George W, which led ultimately to the election of Barack Obama and his hope and change hype for ending war. Having no experience in either war or diplomacy, Obama nonetheless displayed a cocky arrogance as if he knew how to end the war without death or destruction. He began to look for the quickest way out and even he couldn't rid himself of the Iraq quagmire quickly.
In the meantime, American forces fought gallantly and successfully and we in effect won the war but more time was needed to win the people to the idea of democratic governance. The Iraqis were coming around but Obama was impatient and he established a timetable for disengagement which allowed the insurgents to just bid their time and await America's departure. Once he let this news out and began the withdrawal, isolated terror incidents began to happen with more frequency and this was the sign of things to come.
Now this week we have seen the violence ramped up into a full scale civil war. The jihadists, supported by Iran and with the support of reinforcements from Syria, are rapidly overrunning the country. It brings back memories of 1975 in Vietnam but is much more horrific since the Islamic militants are much more violent and show no mercy. Beheadings in Mosul and Tikrit have been reported en masse and the forces are rapidly rolling on Baghdad.
Is this the end of the Iraqi experiment with democracy? It might very well be. America pulled out to soon just as most military experts said and Obama, well, the President has done his part to insure that a major military success by America ends up as a total failure. But failure is what he does best, be it with the economy, the military, or general social behavior, the America we know has been turned upside down.
God bless those good Iraqis who were our friends and help them to survive and somehow regain their country. They've been through much suffering. And God help America to wake up and see the light. It's time for a little common sense and leadership to prevail. I hope everyone will pray for a positive outcome on this horrible situation and that the President will be shown the error of his ways. Let's stop the madness.
Striking like a German blitzkrieg which covered huge chunks of real estate in hours, not days or months, American forces pushed Saddam Hussein's government out of Kuwait and decimated his Army and Air Force. Personally, I thought that would have been a good moment to continue the push into Baghdad, depose Hussein, and free his people but America chose not to do so. Oh, I know all of the bit about the UN and listening to its diplomatic droning, but action at that time would likely have avoided huge expenditures on military and foreign aid in the area as well as preclude many casualties.
Saddam was allowed to regroup and live to fight another day and we defeated him with relative ease, yet the turmoil and hatred for America and all things Western by so many in that part of the world led to a nerve wracking war of attrition which dragged on and on. Many days you could never even find an enemy combatant, yet the wounding and death caused by IEDs and other guerrilla devices took its toll.
Over time, Americans lost its will for war as we so often do, and it resulted in the country becoming disenchanted with the second President Bush, George W, which led ultimately to the election of Barack Obama and his hope and change hype for ending war. Having no experience in either war or diplomacy, Obama nonetheless displayed a cocky arrogance as if he knew how to end the war without death or destruction. He began to look for the quickest way out and even he couldn't rid himself of the Iraq quagmire quickly.
In the meantime, American forces fought gallantly and successfully and we in effect won the war but more time was needed to win the people to the idea of democratic governance. The Iraqis were coming around but Obama was impatient and he established a timetable for disengagement which allowed the insurgents to just bid their time and await America's departure. Once he let this news out and began the withdrawal, isolated terror incidents began to happen with more frequency and this was the sign of things to come.
Now this week we have seen the violence ramped up into a full scale civil war. The jihadists, supported by Iran and with the support of reinforcements from Syria, are rapidly overrunning the country. It brings back memories of 1975 in Vietnam but is much more horrific since the Islamic militants are much more violent and show no mercy. Beheadings in Mosul and Tikrit have been reported en masse and the forces are rapidly rolling on Baghdad.
Is this the end of the Iraqi experiment with democracy? It might very well be. America pulled out to soon just as most military experts said and Obama, well, the President has done his part to insure that a major military success by America ends up as a total failure. But failure is what he does best, be it with the economy, the military, or general social behavior, the America we know has been turned upside down.
God bless those good Iraqis who were our friends and help them to survive and somehow regain their country. They've been through much suffering. And God help America to wake up and see the light. It's time for a little common sense and leadership to prevail. I hope everyone will pray for a positive outcome on this horrible situation and that the President will be shown the error of his ways. Let's stop the madness.
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