Obama's "Plan" For Iraq Blasted In NY Times Guest Piece

Owen West, who "served two tours in Iraq with the Marines" and authored a book on counterinsurgency in Iraq, tells NY Times readers what he really thinks of Obama's abandonment of Iraq in 2011 and his current program of trickling in a few advisors:

Mr. Obama, despite warnings of Mr. Maliki’s intentions, made no sincere effort to leave a sizable number of troops in Iraq past 2011. Now we’re sending in tiny groups, a few hundred at a time, to live on lily pads. That’s no way to instill the will to fight, yet Pentagon officials brag about numbers of “troops trained.”

Before entering ground combat, we have to fix the political problem. It would be insane to repeat our previous mistake and train an army to fight for the current Shiite government. Last year we trained not a single Sunni soldier, and our dollars continue to flow through Baghdad to Shiite militias.

...

Even with a thousand American advisers, Shiite soldiers today won’t fight for desolate Sunni lands. If we’re committed to a yearslong effort, money should flow directly to the end recipient of our choosing — whether that be the Iraqi Army, Kurds or Sunni tribesmen. Our current half-strategy opposes one enemy — the Islamic State — but benefits a much bigger threat, Iran.

If we don’t get the politics aligned with a commitment to destroy the Islamic State, our advisers should expect the same heartbreak as those of us who fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and our fathers before us in Vietnam.

 

Comments

[Dave (in MA)]

.

[sbw]

FB is not JOM. Time is spent here.

When there is nothing to say, I listen.

[sbw]

Dave, thanks for the comic relief.

[Captain Haiku]

Talking to trolls can
Be like junk food, bad for you
But hard to resist

[Jane]

How bout ignoring the feather guy for a few days - or not.

[sbw]

I never see the feather guy. Only reflections in others.

Jane, I wouldn’t mind if I never saw reflections, either.

[new lurker]

Well, I lurk on facebook and never post. Here, I lurk and post sometimes, OL. It's all inside communications on JOM facebook. Too bad. There needs to be just one JOM. Sigh.

[Threadkiller]

The is the Natural Born JOM, new lurker.

[sbw]

There needs to be just one JOM.

There is.

[new lurker]

well, sbw, there is an insidious little sidebarwhere only accepted can go. Sad.

[sbw]

new lurker, among the lessons I learned from my parents is, “Life is not fair.”

When I complained, they said, “Deal with it!”

I have passed that practical advice on to my children.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Insidious is wrong.

JOM FB allows us to post personal information like addresses and directions to a meetup. It allows those who would rather the world not identify them visually to post photos.

Should JOMers refrain from actually having friendships unless it is here?

"My goodness!"

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Hey Lazybusy,
I choose to AC-cen-tu-ate the positive cuz Chet E-lim-i-nates the negative, about six times a day.

I did remember that if you're looking for a break, toss him a ham bone with a dish of water and he'll wear himself out.

[Beasts of England]

I've responded to the unhinged moron far more than I should. I also completely ignored him for weeks at a time - as have others - but it doesn't help.

JOM is not mine, but I would use this analog: if I'm at a friend's house for a party and a rude, obnoxious drunk is in attendance while the homeowner has stepped out, I'll ignore most of his behavior. But when he takes a shit on the Persian rug, I'm going to confront him.

So what's the answer? I don't know. I'd love suggestions, but I won't entertain completely ignoring him. It's not my wont. I'm willing to go and leave the lunatic the ignominy of his own mental deficiencies - but something has to give.

[Dave (in MA)]

Overheard 2 guys in the office across the hall today:

"Did you ever have to pull out your crank at work?"

They're cyclists and didn't seem to know why I laughed.

[Jane]

Beasts, it's not a big deal, but lately he seems to be dominating the threads.

[anonamom]

Listening right now to a program on how FB uses facial recognition data now, and it's incredible potential to share it with retailers and others.
I'll stick with not being on FB for now.

[Beasts of England]

@Jane: To me it's just the level of bile that he's offering so often. A couple of his posts over the last few hours are truly beyond the pale. I just can't comprehend how that degree of stupidly could coagulate in a single human being.

Oh, well...

[Beasts of England]

Wear a fake moustache, anonamom! :)

[DrJ]

Beasts,

Either SOB (scroll on by) or use the narcisolator. I can identify his posts from only a few words (I'm off the n-lator at the moment) and just skip them.

[Beasts of England]

I'm usually on my phone, so the narcisolator won't work (and yes, narcisolator is in my auto-correct). Scrolling by is largely untenable due to the cross talk.

I just go back to the rug example: I won't allow it.

Appreciate the thoughts, DrJ!

p.s., a very nice, reasonably priced Merlot on Last Bottle today - I grabbed a few...

[Beasts of England]

Tiger needs to beg Butch Harmon to come back. His swing is a real hot mess.

[Stephanie]

Out to dinner, now back.

The FB page seldom gets much traffic. Unless it is to post personal info best not posted here. Less than two to three comments a day.

Lots of folks traveling (JiB, Clarice). Y'all aren't being ignored.

[danoso]

What bothers me is he really seems to be enjoying himself today, based (I have to believe) the terrible events of the day, which he (like the President) wastes no time to exploit. Horrible people, and I don't know what to do about it either. Disgusting, evil, ... Words really can't describe how I feel about Ben and his ilk. And he enjoys it.

[Stephanie]

Flipping between the LSU-TCU college world series elimination game and the Open.

[Beasts of England]

If NK's still around: I'm a fan of the course so far. Some incredibly beautiful holes and plenty of options to attack them. It also has some very traditional nods, such as the Redan short hole. All of this from a sand and gravel mine reclamation.

I also like that there are, at the moment, 32 players under par. Subject to change by Sunday evening. :)

[Jane]

I'm as guilty as anyone of feeding the trolls, and as guilty as anyone of bitching about it. I suspect I won't be changing anytime soon.

All liberals are that stupid. Today some liberal told me I was conservative because I like to be controlled. This is a person who begs for more government to tell him what to do everyday of his life.

I don't think they think.

[Beasts of England]

The Fox broadcast crew is really annoying. Opening night jitters, perhaps, but it's painful. Ya know - less talk is more. It's a visual medium.

[Beasts of England]

Hilarious, Jane! I've never met you in person, but I'm confident that there is no wanting to be controlled in your nature. JATFI. :)

[daddy]

Yesterday when I first heard of this shooting on Talk Radio news reports, the suspect was immediately described as a young White Male, @21 years of age, sandy blonde hair.

I have no problem with that. That is sensible when describing suspects. That alerts people as to what to be on the lookout for. Thankfully it panned out and they caught the guy.

That brings me back to the topic of the Police Officer in Mississippi ambushed by 3 perps, and able to escape only due to his police dog saving his life. That was on 27 May, yet the 3 suspects were never identified as to height, weight, racial make-up, etc. All that I can and could find is this:

"They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods"...

"The three of them were dragging him toward the wooded area, and he was able to break one hand free to activate the button that opens the door and it released Lucas,"

The dog bit at least one, probably two of the suspects

The suspects fled in the Town Car,

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at (228) 255-9191.

Why do they not release any data on the race, dress, height, weight, make-up etc of the perps? If they don't know, tell us why the hell they don't know. If they do know, tell us why the hell they aren't revealing that info.

I can find no info that the perps have been arrested---no surprise that, since how could the police get any tips from citizens if they never tell citizens what the perps look like. It is as if "Higher Ups" want the incident to die down and stay below the radar screen, and unfortunately when stuff like that happens if fuels the reasonable suspicion that some racial/ethnic narratives are much more willingly spread to the public than others.

[DebinNC]

I hope the Spokane City Council is sending the three miscreant amigos packing right about now. I read all the supporting documents detailing the prolonged abuse by Dolezal et al of the female city employee and watched the 3 commission meetings available online. The evidence of abuse, hubris, and mendacity is irrefutable and damning.

[Stephanie]

Is Beasts Lake House in Tenn or Ala?

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/06/18/couple-stabs-neighbor-over-loud-lovemaking/

[Skoot]

Somebody wrote today that this is 14th such shooting Obama has commented on and my initial thought was that's an relatively low number for a country of 300 million over 6 1/2 years.

The apparently large population of these emasculated boy men and the relative ease of obtaining powerful psychotropic drugs on the street is not a winning combination.

Either we arm ourselves against them or we return to Francis Farmer days. There's no good answers, just good enough answers.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Beasts, people elsewhere are comparing Eldrick's current level of play with David Duval.

[Beasts of England]

Not me, Steph!! Happily unscathed! :)

[Stephanie]

Well right now he is getting beat by the 15 year old amateur in the field. Foley ruined him.

[Beasts of England]

He's playing so poorly that I'm starting to feel sorry for him, Captain. And I hadn't heard Duval's name in years. Wow.

[Stephanie]

BTW there is a newer thread.

[DebinNC]

AP: "The Spokane city council has voted to remove Rachel Dolezal, the former Spokane NAACP president, from the city's volunteer police ombudsman commission."

I think that leaves only her art sales to pay for her tanning and weaves.

[Beasts of England]

I'm not sure Como is any better, Steph. Shirley there has to be a better coach for his skill-set.

[Threadkiller]

Yes daddy. Remember the "man in his '40s" that ran over Denver cops during their Ferguson tribute?

At the time it was hopeless for us little people to find a complete description of the perp. Well, they got him 4 months later.

http://www.9news.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/25/christopher-booker-arrested/70441000/

Surprise.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

I think he can take the large majority of the blame for ruining himself.
I must admit today I did feel sorry for him for perhaps the first time.

[Captain Hate]

i think he's only ahead of some club pro in the whole field. Humiliation sucks particularly when you've been on top of the world. I don't know who has his ear these days but taking a year off, or more, wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Stephanie]

Como is a slight improvement over Foley. It's like he's looking for his cure among the New Age fabulists when what he needs is an old fashioned doctor.

The Shark was recommending him talk to the Champions Tour era pros to get some help on the broadcast earlier today. I saw Rocco several months ago and he said he could knock him into shape in no time.

[Captain Hate]

Welp now Fowler's doing worse; and that was with an eagle.

[Beasts of England]

Mediate? Did he talk your ear off? Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[daddy]

Thanks for the update TK.

So many of these things drop into the memory as we get so inundated by daily new outrages and atrocities.

[Beasts of England]

Nytol