The inside scoop about Iraq, the surge and Afghanistan
Peter Robinson interviews former 4-Star General Jack Keane, one of the architects of the surge, about a variety of subjects. It truly is Uncommon Knowledge:
Part 1: What actually was the surge and who came up with it?
Part 2: Darts and laurels for President Bush and his decision to implement the surge.
Part 3: The timeline for withdrawal from Iraq and whether the war was worth it.
Part 5: Military option to prevent a nuclear Iran and the morale of our armed forces
P.S. I forgot to mention that I recently learned that the great Peter Robinson, the man who penned Ronald Reagan's "Tear down this wall!" speech, is Cuban by marriage. That's right, he's married to a Cubanita. Smart man.
Two key points from the interview: 1) War is chaotic and shit usually goes bad. Success comes when you're able to adapt. 2) Iraq was necessary. Especially if we were serious about providing long-term security after the attacks of 9/11. The liberal-left and their Democratic standard-bearers don't accept that because they are risk-averse cowards unwilling to seriously defend this country. However, there's moderates and so-called conservatives who've also questioned the need for Iraq. That mindset would have allowed Hussein to remain in power, supporting terrorism while we would be playing grab-ass in the Afghan mountains trying to find Osama Bin Laden - a loser's strategy. It's been painful, but necessary if we are serious about protecting our nation.
"Risk-averse cowards." I like that. Add to that "self-serving political whores" and "mental defective" and you have a complete description of the 'progressive' operating in America today. Their only interest in their party's -- not the country's -- continued success.
One of the aspects of the Iraq war that is seldom discussed is how we opened a front in the war on Al Qaeda on foreign soil. Because Al Qaeda fighters streamed into Iraq to fight against our military that means they weren't available to fight us in the streets of Miami or Los Angeles. They got mowed down by our military instead of wreaking havoc on our civilians. Iraq was an ideal battlefield because we had other political objectives there like removing the dirty bastard Saddam who was a threat to the region and also the terrain is much friendlier for us than Afghanistan. History will be much more fair with the idea of the war and it will credit Bush for sticking to his guns but criticize him also for letting it go "sideways" as Robinson puts it, for so long.
Watch them screw up Afghanistan - big time.