The Trouble with the Philosophy

Penraker demonstrates the major failing of the ideology that the main problem in Iraq is Iran and Syria.

The entire argument he presents is based on the notion that the Iraqis are on our side and want the same things for Iraq that we want. According to Ol' Penny, Bush was right that we cannot win the war in Iraq, we must elt the Iraqis win the war for us.

From the start, Rumsfeld and company took the right approach. They decided that ultimately, this was Iraq's war to fight. Once it became clear that the insurgency had lots of staying power, due to the help coming in from outside the country, the decision was made to build the Iraqi forces so that they could counter them.

What this ignores is that many of the Iraqis see no need to counter the various insurgencies, or see only the need to counter insurgencies other than the ones they themselves are planning; that is, they may wish to wipe out other death squads, but also want to form their own.

The public has no idea that an insurgency is fought differently. In an open and truthful media, we would have had insurgencies explained to us by numerous experts. They would have told us that you can't win this type of war by injecting huge numbers of troops and killing as many as you can. No, you win them by being steady, by gradually cutting them off from all their support mechanisms, and by showing resolve.

Ah, yes, showing resolve. That gets the enemy down. Of course, the fact that doubling troop levels might be seen as resolve is too much for Peny's poor, overtaxed little brain to understand.

He keeps on repeating the myth that the insurgency was entirely "dead-enders," but that they have now "petered out" and are replaced by non-Iraqis, and that the insurgency could not last without outside governmental support (i.e. Iran and Syria).

The Iraqis are not on our side, Penny, unless they are the leaders who know that they only have power because the U.S. is propping us up. And even they only pretend to be on our side, for as long as we can benefit them.

Get used to it.

That is all.