President Bush’s New Iraq Strategy

January 10, 2007 Common Sense, Military, Military Support & Patriotism, President Bush, Telling It Like it Is, War in Iraq, War on Terror Comments

Folks, Drudge has excerpts of the President’s (yes, some people still call him “President Bush,” and not “Mr. Bush”) address he will give tonight to the nation. There is one very key segment that is more true than any. And not for reasons the dems would love – that the President admits his efforts “failed.” It’s because our troops have been held back for far too long by a politically-correct policy on fighting this war.

“Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can workâ€¦and Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.”

MP Photo courtesy of CentCom

I know this to be true because I’ve heard it from too many military friends and sources that I know personally that have served in Iraq, and some I just met. I was in the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport last June en route to vacation back home, and as I waited for my flight time, I sat in the Chili’s at the airport, coincidentally next to a couple of Army MP’s who were coming back for a brief R&R. They were relaxing with a couple of drinks and snacks as they decompressed and celebrated being home if for only a short while.

I think I’ve related this before on this site, but I’ll re-iterate it because it’s very important. I had “Godless” with me as reading to take on board the plane, and they both saw the title “Godless: The Church of Liberalism.” They didn’t know who Ann was, and they just caught the “liberalism” part of the title, and said “she probably wouldn’t like us.” I had to explain to them who she was and why she WOULD like them.

I then asked if they minded a few questions about Iraq, which they most cordially welcomed. I just asked for general observations (no structured questions), and let them talk. They told me about the Mahdi Army (they pronounded it “Mokdi” and called them warlords, not an “Army”), and how ruthless they were. They said they were the most vicious, brutal force our guys have ever seen. This was a bit before the Mahdis became a household name, so I know what they were talking about now. They told me interestingly their biggest frustration was the fact that they could not return fire blindly, or immediately shoot at pinpointed sources of RPG fire identified by and relayed by surveillance aircraft. The reason?

The Sadr savages would launch RPGs or other mortar rounds after sundown toward U.S. posts, but would immediately run toward crowded markets or residential areas. The precision surveillance aircraft would immediately radio the location of the terrorists, but because of the “image” the MSM so dearly loves to show the death of innocent civilians, the ground team (who had been attacked, remember) would have to radio command units and wait at least six full minutes before they returned fire. As you can guess, the majority of their return attacks were turned down because the targets were no longer in the areas surveilled. This pissed these guys off more than any of us can ever know.

AC130 Gunship

But one good thing I learned from them was this: We do instill fear with some of our military machines. They said that there was a certain warplane (if memory serves me correctly, it was the AC130 Gunship) the terrorists in Iraq referred to as the “Cross of Death.” The reason they did so is because this military plane, the behemoth it is, would ascend into the sky with its payload fairly slowly. Once it reached its pinnacle, it would turn and head directly toward earth, and shortly thereafter, they would release their cumbersome load of bombs upon the intended target. When the plane would breach in the sky, it would form, with its wingspread, a “cross” was formed by the silhouette; thus, the moniker “Cross of Death.” They knew that if they were in an area close enough to see the Cross of Death, it was the end for them. And they knew it was the last thing they would ever see.

Don’tcha just love it?

We need to release these chains from the arms of our soldiers and Marines. Every time I see a newscast on CNN, MessNBC, etc., and they are whining about the military killing “innocent” people, I want to yell at the screen “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT WHEN YOU SEND IN THE MARINES? IF YOU DON’T WANT KILLING, DON’T SEND IN OUR MILITARY, YOU JACKASSES!”

I’m worried about the country’s future, but I hope they do what Bush is alleged to say in his speech: release the politically-correct bonds our troops are inhibited by, and more directly, let them take out Sadr and his Mahdi Murderers. Leave them alone, and….Let. Them. Do. Their. Jobs.