----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>;
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:48 PM
Subject: [unioNews] Sobering facts from the frontline
> This story was sent to you by: Malik Al-Arkam
>
> --------------------
> Sobering facts from the frontline
> --------------------
>
> Precedents for failure: Examples of military powers intervening in other
countries and finding themselves faced with violent opposition
>
> Steve Chapman
>
> January 22, 2004
>
> The Bush administration's attempt to remake Iraq has collided with a few
unforeseen obstacles, including growing doubts at home. As casualties mount,
a majority of Americans now say the war in Iraq was not worth the cost.
Fortunately, history can provide guidance on how to cope with such
situations, based on past experiences that have turned out well. The only
problem is finding one.
>
> Richard Perle, the influential conservative defense analyst and adviser to
the administration, was in town last week to talk about his new book, "An
End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror." Perle thinks that, contrary to
the impression given by all those bombs going off and Shiites massing to
protest against us, American policy is working just fine. But when he is
asked for precedents that suggest the United States can succeed at occupying
and transforming Iraq, he replies with airy nonchalance, "I don't think
there are relevant precedents."
>
> Actually, recent history is replete with examples of military powers
intervening in other countries and finding themselves faced with violent
opposition. What Perle might say if he wants to be precise is that there are
no precedents that bode well for this undertaking.
>
> Milt Bearden, a 30-year CIA veteran and former manager of clandestine
operations, has surveyed the record and notes a sobering fact about the 20th
Century: "Every nationalist-based insurgency against a foreign occupation
ultimately succeeded." Not some of them; not most of them. Every one of
them.
>
> The closest parallel might be Lebanon, which Israel invaded in 1982 to
eliminate a terrorist threat, destroy Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation
Organization and install a friendly government next door. When they arrived,
Israeli soldiers were pelted with flowers by grateful Lebanese. But soon
they found themselves surrounded by enemies.
>
> In 1984, there were more than 900 attacks on Israeli forces. These,
reported The New York Times, included "hit-and-run ambushes by Shiite gunmen
hiding in banana groves, roadside bombs manufactured with homemade
explosives and set off by radio signals built from components of children's
walkie-talkies, rocket-propelled grenades fired from rooftops with timers
made from old watches, cooking gas bottles filled with dynamite placed by
the side of the road, old Russian-made mines and artillery shells stuffed
into bags of nails, radio bombs, cigarette-pack bombs, car bombs and
trip-wire bombs, suicides and homicides."
>
> Sound familiar? By the time Israel retreated in 1985, the war had claimed
more than 1,200 Israeli lives, and the commander of the last unit leaving
Lebanon remarked bitterly, "We did this three years too late."
>
> Writes Michael Desch, head of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and
International Commerce at the University of Kentucky, "Even though they won
a series of military victories, the Israelis achieved none of their larger
political objectives." The other day the Israelis launched airstrikes aimed
at terrorists who continue to operate against them in--where else?--Lebanon.
>
> There are other precedents, and they are equally ominous. France fought a
long and futile war to keep control of Algeria, killing hundreds of
thousands of Algerians before giving up. After sacrificing some 58,000 lives
in Vietnam, the U.S. finally abandoned the country to its fate. The Soviets
sent the mighty Red Army into Afghanistan but left, bloodied and bowed. In
each case, the locals prevailed against a vastly superior foe.
>
> President Bush insists that American resolve will see us through. "America
has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right," he declared
in his State of the Union address. "The United States of America will never
be in-timidated by thugs and assassins."
>
> Oh, really? Has he forgotten that we chose to cut our losses in Vietnam,
Lebanon and Somalia? Has he failed to notice how little we've done lately
"for what is right" in Afghanistan, which has reverted to the control of
lawless warlords?
>
> It's apparent from the record that outside powers faced with persistent,
violent resistance are bound to give up sooner or later. That's not because
they are weak or cowardly. It's because they lack a sufficient interest to
justify the cost.
>
> The outsiders always have the option of packing up and heading out. The
insurgents have nowhere else to go. So they usually have far greater staying
power. Even if they can't win, they can outlast the enemy--and that's
enough.
>
> The president may claim that Americans will pay any price and bear any
burden to bring freedom and democracy to a country that is not their own. No
doubt some Iraqis believe that. Plenty of Vietnamese boat people once
believed it too.
>
> ----------
>
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune
>
> --------------------
> Improved archives!
>
> Searching Chicagotribune.com archives back to 1985 is cheaper and easier
than ever. New prices for multiple articles can bring your cost down to as
low as 30 cents an article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/archives
>
> lllll
> QUOTATION:
>
> "All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishments of an African
empire, so strong and powerful as to compel the respect of mankind, but we
in our lifetime can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility
within another generation"
> -<html><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Ancestor
Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html>
>
> llllllllll
> * //\\//\\ unioNews Newsgroup //\\//\\ *
> * http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion *
> * We're One People *
> * Join the Chorus *
> - African Union Shall Succeed -
> =====================================
> A luta Continua!
>
> To subscribe to this group, send an eMail to:
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
> Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
> http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/DKgolB/TM
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unioNews/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
