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[05.19.03] Perspective, Not Triumphalism When I read stuff like this:

In interviews here and in Washington, and in testimony on Capitol Hill, military officers, other administration officials and defense experts said the Pentagon ignored lessons from a decade of peacekeeping operations in Haiti, Somalia, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

It also badly underestimated the potential for looting and lawlessness after the collapse of the Iraqi government, lacking forces capable of securing the streets of Baghdad in the transition from combat to postwar reconstruction.

The combination of wretched weather, long and insecure supply lines, and an enemy that has refused to be supine in the face of American military might has led to a broad reassessment by some top generals of U.S. military expectations and timelines. Some of them see even the potential threat of a drawn-out fight that sucks in more and more U.S. forces. Both on the battlefield in Iraq and in Pentagon conference rooms, military commanders were talking yesterday about a longer, harder war than had been expected just a week ago, the officials said.

"Tell me how this ends," one senior officer said yesterday.

I think it is reasonable to question why no one seems to have anticipated the breakdown in order that followed the collapse of Baathist rule.

Panama would seem to be the best example. The military was the police force and with their defeat and the large amount of arms distributed in the ghettos massive looting followed. Okay, we missed that one. In the end the only loosers were the owners of most retail establishments and the economy that limped forward. Although regretable, our main interest was to have a non criminal government in place to which the canal could be transferred.

But the neocon position is that our main purpose in Iraq is to reform and build a democratic and prosperous society as a counter point to its corrupt and feudal neighbors. The break down works counter to our goal.

This is legitimate critisim, questioning why previous experience was not a factor in planning. It is not comparable to the general whine that the left has engaged in over our use of force.

Posted by: VIICorps at May 22, 2003 01:46:39 AM

On the topic of Iraq, I see this as the featured photo news story at the New York Times website (nytimes.com):

Iraqi Looters Raid Sites
U.S. forces have aggressively reined in looters in Baghdad, but have done little to protect Iraq's numerous archaeological sites.
Go to Article

It is clear that chaos continues to reign in many parts of Iraq, despite our "victory"...

This is not good.

Posted by: Aakash at May 23, 2003 01:34:23 AM

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