Originally posted by DrGonzo:
I pose a few questions for anyone with current or past military service.

Do you feel that some of our problems in planning and handling the "post-war" situation could be a direct result of our military having the institutional mindset of being liberators, and not occupiers?

Do you feel that you were suitably trained for duty as an occupier in a hostile environment?

Do you believe that the Pentagon is comfortable with this occupational role?

I am just trying to get some insight. Thanks.





I blame the vast majority of our problems in Iraq on Don Rumsfeld. His notion of a lighter, smaller, faster, more lethal, more technological military is a farce. He stuck stubbornly to it despite reports of its failings. He was told that it would take 500,000 troops to occupy Iraq, and that was a very good estimate. Instead, we have only a small fraction of that. We stay holed up in our compounds at night giving free roaming ability to the enemy, which he uses to great advantage. We allowed Iraq to transition from dictatorship to war time to free society in the blink of an eye. This was much, much too fast. In our haste to set up a democratic state, we forgot that these people have known nothing but war and terror for decades. There should have been a significant transition period of marshall law. We should have had the troop strength in place to close off all the borders (hello, hostile nations of Syria and Iran right next door). We should have initiated a national identification card system and required it for travel anywhere in the country.

Did you know that there are munitions stockpiles, containing thousands of pounds of explosives, which are left totally ungarded, lying about all over Iraq? We simply do not have the EOD experts available to get rid of them. We should at least be guarding them, but again, it is a question of numbers.

We are treating the insurgency there with such kid gloves that we are actually encouraging the terrorists.

On an individual soldier level, we were indeed prepared to fight the war and win the peace. We simply didn't have the numbers necessarry to accomplish that mission. Even so, the soldiers there are doing the best they can, just like they always do.

95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD 2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic 2004 Honda VTX 1800N1 There are no stupid questions. There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.