Jul 24 2006
WaPo Claims 4th ID Caused Iraq Insurgency
In another lame attempt to blame anyone but the terrorists the Washington Post is running some revisionist history claiming that the insurgency was created by the 4th Infantry being too tough early on in the War in Iraq:
Today, the 4th Infantry and its commander, Maj. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, are best remembered for capturing former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, one of the high points of the U.S. occupation. But in the late summer of 2003, as senior U.S. commanders tried to counter the growing insurgency with indiscriminate cordon-and-sweep operations, the 4th Infantry was known for aggressive tactics that may have appeared to pacify the northern Sunni Triangle in the short term but that, according to numerous Army internal reports and interviews with military commanders, alienated large parts of the population.
There you have it folks. The Sunni’s would have welcomed the US with open arms and warm hearts if only the 4th ID hadn’t been so darn pushy. They had guns aimed at the fair citizens of Iraq as if there might be Fedayeen clothed as civilians in the crowds. Zarqawi would never had been able to bring in all the foreign terrorists from around the region to saw off innocent people’s heads in snuff films for the news media if the 4th ID had just been a little more civil.
Does anyone still wonder how the liberals got such a bad reputation on national security? Well, this display of ‘logic’ sure clears it up for me. You think some of the Sunni’s felt ‘alienated’ when we toppled their regime and gave power to the two majority groups they had been brutally oppressing and killing for 30 years? I would guess some would feel a bit of angst. This is nothing more than a weak rationalization to continue to doubt America’s progress in Iraq. Whoever wrote this surely has no real understanding of Iraq during Hussein’s reign, during the liberation and during the ongoing rebuilding. They are simply trying to shore up a failed and false view that liberals hold dear: Iraq is a failure.
I do believe that if Gen Garner had been allowed to do what he was sent there for–turn over civil administration to the Iraqis immediately–and we hadn’t acceded to DoS and sent over Bremer (who was awful) we’d have been much better off.
Clarice,
Agree with you 100%.
My cousin is in the 4th ID and they were not half as tough on the Iraqis as the Iraqis were on each other.
It would have also been much different if the 4th ID had been allowed to enter from the North from Turkey as had been originally planned. Having the 4th ID (which was 2nd Armored -Hell On Wheels-when I was in the Army but was redisgnated) arrive from the North and immediately sweep along the Syrian border would have made a major difference in allowing the insurgency to get established in Western Anbar province. I believe Turkey was kissing up to the French in a bid to gain better posture for EU entry and that is why they refused to allow the 4th to disembark.
Fiasco…
Thomas Ricks has a new book on Iraq, entitled Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
From what I have read so far, this seems like a good book, with an unhelpful title, surely guaranteed to annoy people like my friend A.J. Strata. The Strata-…
In regards to Fiasco, this is about all that needs to be said:
it was written by:
“Thomas E. Ricks, senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post”
Anybody reading anything by a correspondent for The Washington Post should only be expecting a viewpoint of a sufferer of BDS.
Saw a news item this AM that says about 55% of Americans now believe that there were WMD’S in Iraq. Sites like this one and Captain’s Quarters are doing a good job of getting the message out.