Friday, January 05, 2007

I think we all remember the time an Admiral won at Stalingrad

Yes, I know that the Navy takes part in operations in Iraq and that there are Marines there, but I'm pretty sure even Chester Nimitz might think dealing with an insurgency is beyond his bailiwick.

...the choice to succeed Gen. John P. Abizaid as the head of the Central Command is expected to be Adm. William J. Fallon, who is the top American military officer in the Pacific, officials said.


The other guy appointed to replace General Casey (i.e. the other General on the ground who Bush decided not to listen to) is Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus. Steve Gilliard has the apt description here:

Dave Petreus talks a great game, but has failed repeatedly in Iraq. His second tour, was, in effect, a diaster. The Iraqi Army is now factionalized and useless. The officers still think they're fighting Iranians. Many of the troops have other loyalties.

He's gonna play Jacques Massu in Baghdad and fail because the Mahdi Army now runs most of the city and the government. The government and most of the police and Army are now loyal to Sadr, as the execution of Saddam shows.


How they expect to buttress an Iraqi Government co-dependent on the Mahdi Army while simultaneously attacking the Mahdi Army is a sure sign of the failure of yet another Bush Policy before it starts. It's about time we stop clear failures before it happens.

What these appointments are, in actuality are attempts by the Bush Administration to again push this topic another few months into the future and hope for yet another non-existent miracle.

In fairness, Juan Cole has a slightly different take.

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