Read for yourself the brilliant Op-Ed written by Wes Clark in advance of President Bush's announcement on escalating this war. That's what leaders do; they lead and act--as opposed to RE-acting after the fact to the Bush Surge conference!
Unfortunate, but it takes a real life General to let the nation know what we really need to do in reference to this war.....and to give Chickenhawks some "food for thought"!
(edited to add a plug for anyone reading this to sign the General's Petition addressed to George Bush that I'm calling "The Surge Protector Manifesto" if you haven't already! )
Kudos to the General!
Clark's Op-Ed--
The odds are that this week President Bush will announce a "surge" of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops into Iraq. Will this deliver a "win"? Probably not. But it will distract us from facing the deep-seated regional issues that must be resolved.The administration views a troop surge of modest size as virtually the only remaining action in Iraq that would be a visible signal of determination. More economic assistance is likely to be touted, but absent a change in the pattern of violence, infrastructure enhancement simply isn't practical.
Yes, several additional brigades in Baghdad would allow for more roadblocks, patrols and neighborhood-clearing operations. Some initial successes would be evident. But how significant would this be? We've never had enough troops in Iraq. In Kosovo, we had 40,000 troops for a population of 2 million. That ratio would call for at least 500,000 troops in Iraq; adding 20,000 now seems too little, too late.
Netroot Buzz of various bloggers on Clark's "in your face" Op-Ed are numerous!
Arkansas Politics Blog
Z Poliblog
Talking Points Memo
Daily Background
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
EdCone.com
Too Sense
Human Voices
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Cab Drollery
The Political Chase
Vision for America
The Poor Man Institute
news hog
A Wes Clark Democrat
West Virginia Blue
Opinionator on Drudge Retort
Evergreen Politics 1/8/07
Hit & Run on Reason Magazine
A Left Turn for Clark
Right Wing blog listed for "balance":
Jay Reding (UK)
