Wesley Clark In The Washington Post: Fallujah Is Just The Beginning: What This War Lacks Is Any Real Diplomacy

Wesley Clark has been chiming in a lot lately on the Shrub War situation. I think he’s a smart guy with a lot of experience in this War stuff, so I’ve created a category for him.
I’m not trying to archive everything the guy does or anything, but once I’ve posted a couple things from the same person (as I am about to- I’ve got some good clips of him from Bill Maher’s show a few weeks back), it will make it easier to find the stuff later if it has its own category.

The Real Battle
Winning in Fallujah Is Just the Beginning
By Wesley K. Clark for The Washington Post.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assures us that U.S. and Iraqi government forces have moved steadily through the insurgent stronghold and that the assault has been “very, very successful.” Last night, even as troops fought to secure the final section of the Sunni city, senior Iraqi officials declared it “liberated.” But it’s hardly surprising that the measure of success in Fallujah is elusive: There’s no uniformed enemy force, no headquarters, no central command complex for the troops to occupy and win. At the end, there will be no surrender.
After “winning”: Tactical victory is one thing, strategic victory another. U.S. Marines regroup inside the Khulafah Rashid mosque in Fallujah after taking it Thursday. They left later after routed insurgents regrouped and fired on the mosque. (Luis Sinco — Los Angeles Times Via AP)
Instead, the outcome of the battle must be judged by a less clear-cut standard: not by the seizure and occupation of ground, but by the impact it has on the political and diplomatic process in Iraq. Its chances for success in that area are highly uncertain. Will Fallujah, like the famous Vietnam village, be the place we destroyed in order to save it? Will the bulk of the insurgents simply scatter to other Iraqi cities? Will we win a tactical victory only to fail in our strategic goal of convincing Iraqis that we are making their country safe for democracy — and specifically for the elections scheduled for the end of January?…
But in what sense is this “winning?”
To win means not just to occupy the city, but to do so in a way that knocks the local opponent permanently out of the fight, demoralizes broader resistance, and builds legitimacy for U.S. aims, methods and allies. Seen this way, the battle for Fallujah is not just a matter of shooting. It is part of a larger bargaining process that has included negotiations, threats and staged preparations to pressure insurgent groups into preemptive surrender, to deprive them of popular tolerance and support, and to demonstrate to the Iraqi people and to others that force was used only as a last resort in order to gain increased legitimacy for the interim Iraqi government.
Even the use of force required a further calculus. Had we relentlessly destroyed the city and killed large numbers of innocent civilians, or suffered crippling losses in the fighting, we most certainly would have been judged “losers.” And if we can’t hold on and prevent the insurgents from infiltrating back in — as has now occurred in the recently “liberated” city of Samarra — we also shall have lost…
This insurgency has continued to grow, despite U.S. military effectiveness on the ground. While Saddam Hussein’s security forces may have always had a plan to resist the occupation, it was the failure of American policymakers to gain political legitimacy that enabled the insurgency to grow. And while the failure may have begun with the inability to impose order after Saddam’s ouster, it was the lack of a political coterie and the tools of political development — such as the Vietnam program of Civil Operations-Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) — that seems to have enabled the insurgency to take root amid the U.S. presence. These are the sorts of mistakes the United States must avoid in the future, otherwise the battle of Fallujah may end up being nothing more than the “taking down” of an insurgent stronghold — a battlefield success on the road to strategic failure.
Troops are in Fallujah because of a political failure: Large numbers of Sunnis either wouldn’t, or couldn’t, participate in the political process and the coming elections. Greater security in Fallujah may move citizens (whenever they return) to take part in the voting; it’s too early to say. But it’s certain that you can’t bomb people into the polling booths.
We should be under no illusions: This is not so much a war as it is an effort to birth a nation. It is past time for the administration to undertake diplomatic efforts in the region and political efforts inside Iraq that are worthy of the risks and burdens born by our men and women in uniform. No one knows better than they do: You cannot win in Iraq simply by killing the opponent. Much as we honor our troops and pray for their well-being, if diplomacy fails, their sacrifices and even their successes in Fallujah won’t be enough.

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Saving Private Ryan Controversy

Clarification: The “I’m pissed” sentiment below is because of my technical difficulties, not over this Saving Private Ryan thing — which is interesting at best, but nothing to get too excited about. After re-reading this post, it seemed like that may have been unclear. thanks!
Oh man am I pissed. I forgot to hook up the audio on my camera when I was taping a report on MSNBC’s Countdown (yes I missed all of the election reports too because of this) — about how many of the ABC affiliates refused to air “Saving Private Ryan” last week because of its soldiers filthy mouths in light of the potential FCC fines. (That’s right, their blaming the Janet boob incident for this.)
We know the real reason these stations opted out of airing the film (the agreement with Spielberg required the film to be shown unedited in its entirety): this is one graphic film that shows the reality of war.
Anyway I wanted to at least place a note here on the subject. If anyone sees articles around about this, let me know and I’ll link to them here.

Halliburton Subpoenaed On Nigerian Payments

I saw this in the November 9, 2004 NY Times on page C4 of the Business Section. But I couldn’t find it online, so I decided to just retype it here.
From the NY Times (From Reuters):

The Halliburton Company, the oil services company, has disclosed in a regulatory filing that one of its joint ventures may have improperly paid Nigerian officials to win a multibillion-dollar contract. The company also said the United States officials had issued subpoenas to current and former employees of Kellogg Brown & Root, its engineering and construction unit. Halliburton said in September that an internal investigation has found that members of the TSKJ consortium, which it helps lead, may have considered bribing Nigerian officials a decade ago. Nigeria is also investigating allegations that the consortium paid as much as $180 million to secure a contract for the TSKJ liquefied natural gas project. (Reuters)

Finally! A Peep Out Of The Kerry Squad

Emphasize peep! (The peep we’ve all been waiting for 🙂

Kerry campaign scrutinizes Ohio
Checks provisional ballots, other issues
By Scott Hiaasen for The Plain Dealer.

Lawyers with John Kerry’s presidential campaign are gathering information from Ohio election boards about uncounted ballots and other unresolved issues from last week’s election.
Attorneys say they are not trying to challenge the election but are only carrying out Kerry’s promise to make sure that all the votes in Ohio are counted. They describe this effort, which began this week, as a “fact-finding mission.”…
Dan Hoffheimer, the statewide counsel for the Kerry campaign, said the goal is to identify any voting problems to prevent them in the future – and quell doubts about the legitimacy of the Ohio election being raised on the Internet.
“We’re not expecting to change the outcome of the election,” Hoffheimer said. “We want to be sure that the public knows what really happened.”
The campaign’s inquiries come against a backdrop of increasing hysteria among Internet activists who, in chains of e-mails and articles, claim that Ohio’s election was so riddled with problems that the outcome may not be legitimate.
For example, a confusing counting method used in Cuyahoga County’s election totals wrongly suggests that more than two dozen suburbs had more votes than voters. And a computer glitch in Franklin County added nearly 3,900 phantom votes for Bush in one precinct…
The Kerry campaign has compiled a list of more than 30 questions for local election officials, asking about the number of absentee and provisional ballots, any reports of equipment malfunctions on election night, and any ballots that still listed third-party challenger Ralph Nader as a candidate. (Nader was removed from the ballot by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.)

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Donna Britt Condemns Voter Apathy Towards Election Irregularities

Nice job Donna!
She makes the really excellent point that, if the Repubs had lost, due to any reason whatsoever, you can bet they’d be fighting to recount every single vote.
I hope there’s somebody listening out there.
Kerry and Edwards: are you listening?!?

Worst Voter Error Is Apathy Toward Irregularities
By Donna Britt for The Washington Post.

Is anyone surprised that accusations of voter disenfranchisement and irregularities abound after the most passionately contested presidential campaign in memory? Is anybody stunned that the mainstream media appear largely unconcerned?
To many people’s thinking, too few citizens were discouraged from voting to matter. Those people would suggest that not nearly enough votes for John Kerry were missed or siphoned away to overturn President Bush’s win. To which I’d respond:
Excuse me — I thought this was America.
Informed that I was writing about voter disenfranchisement, a Democratic friend admitted, “I’m trying not to care about that.” I understand. Less than two weeks after a bruising election in a nation in which it’s unfashionable to overtly care about anything, it’s annoying of me even to notice.
But citizens who insist, election after election, that each vote is sacred and then shrug at hundreds of credible reports that honest-to-God votes were suppressed and discouraged aren’t just being hypocritical.
They’re telling the millions who never vote because “it doesn’t matter anyway” that they’re the smart ones.
Come on. If Republicans had lost the election, this column would be unnecessary because Karl Rove and company would be contesting every vote. I keep hearing from those who wonder whether Democrats are “too nice,” and from others who wonder whether efforts by the mainstream media to be “fair and balanced” sometimes render them “neutered and less effective.”
Perhaps. But the much-publicized voting-machine error that gave Bush 4,258 votes in an Ohio precinct where only 638 people cast ballots preceded a flood of disturbing reports, ranging from the Florida voting machine that counted backward to the North Carolina computer that eliminated votes. In Ohio’s Warren County, election officials citing “homeland security” concerns locked the doors to the county building where votes were being counted, refusing to allow members of the media and bipartisan observers to watch…
Why aren’t more Americans exercised about this issue? Maybe the problem is who’s being disenfranchised — usually poor and minority voters. In a recent poll of black and white adults by Harvard University professor Michael Dawson, 37 percent of white respondents said that widely publicized reports of attempts to prevent blacks from voting in the 2000 election were a Democratic “fabrication.” More disturbingly, nearly one-quarter of whites surveyed said that if such attempts were made, they either were “not a problem” (9 percent) or “not so big a problem” (13 percent).

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State Approves Nader Recount In New Hampshire

I was mad as hell about Nader running at all. And we’re still not sure (since we’re not sure about any of the numbers in this election) if he affected Kerry’s numbers adversely or now.
That said, it looks like Nader’s the only one so far with enough guts to request a recount. Where’s Kerry in all of this!?!
This post goes with this one.

State approves Nader recount
By The Associated Press.

State election officials agreed Friday to a last-minute recount of the presidential race requested by Ralph Nader.
Nader asked for a recount in 11 wards last week, but the state initially said no because his request did not include the $2,000 fee. He had until 4:30 p.m. Friday to get the money to the Secretary of State’s office.
Nader’s campaign said some voting machines in the state logged results that favored President Bush by as much as 15 percent over what previous trends and exit polls would suggest.
Nader requested hand recounts in Litchfield, Sandown, Newton, Danville, Salem, Pelham, one ward in Somersworth and four wards in Manchester.
Nader’s campaign could be required to pay additional fees as the recount proceeds. There was no estimate as to when the recount might begin.
Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese said the campaign would consider requesting additional recounts after reviewing the results of the initial 11.

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Military Hospitals Prepare For Vietnam-Like Casualties From Fallujah Assault

This is from November 5, 2004.

Military hospital preparing for Fallujah battle

Marines say the toll is expected to rival those seen in Vietnam War
By Tom Lasseter for Knight Ridder Tribune News.

The number of dead and wounded from the expected battle to retake insurgent-controlled Fallujah probably will reach levels not seen since Vietnam, a senior surgeon at the Marine camp outside Fallujah said Thursday.
Navy Cmdr. Lach Noyes said the camp’s hospital is preparing to handle 25 severely injured soldiers a day, not counting walking wounded and the dead.
The hospital has added two operating rooms, doubled its supplies, added a mortuary and stocked up on blood reserves. Doctors have set up a system of ambulance vehicles that will rush to the camp’s gate to receive the dead and wounded so units can return to battle quickly…
More than 1,120 U.S. soldiers and Marines have died in Iraq since the war began.
The deadliest month was April, when fierce fighting killed 126 U.S. troops, largely at Fallujah and Ramadi, before a cease-fire virtually turned Fallujah over to the insurgents.
Even then, the death toll was far below the worst month of Vietnam, April 1969, when the U.S. death toll was 543 at the height of American involvement there.
The toll in human suffering has already been grave.

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