Wednesday - October 10, 2007
The Marines Want to Leave Iraq
The New York Times reports that the Marines
want to leave Iraq. They want to take over the entire war effort in
Afghanistan instead. I think this is a wonderful idea for several
reasons.
1. The Marine Corps gets to leave Al Anbar
as winners. It's likely that the fickle tribes and sheiks in Al Anbar will flip
again and things will get bad there again. If we leave Iraq, we can blame that
flip on the army.
2. We can fight in
Afghanistan without being burdened by the incredible bureaucracy of the army.
On the other hand, the army does have a logistics system that works. The
Marines use the wonderful Navy logistics system for its aircraft, and that works
great too. But I wouldn't give two cents for the Marine ground logistics
system.
3. Politically, the Marines
have a tradition of being supported by the Democrat party. This ended in Viet
Nam, but perhaps they want to return to those days since the Democrats are
waxing in power again. It's a dangerous thing to speculate about, but
interservice rivalry is still with us and if this gives the Marine Corps a leg
up on funding its projects, there are some in the Pentagon who will try
it.
4. Just like World War II was
divided by the army in Europe and the South Pacific and the Marines in the
Central Pacific (mostly), our war on terror might benefit from having Iraq and
Afghanistan likewise segregated.
5.
The Marines would get revenge for the insult to General Pace. The failure of
Bush to support him in face of a naked political attack by the Democrats might
just be enough for some in the Pentagon to endorse those that insulted him
rather than the man who failed to defend
him.
6. The Marines like to change
scenery once in a while. Iraq is getting old, time for a new war to fight
in.
7. The Marines would get revenge
on the army's insult to their Force Reconnaissance Company that an army general
tossed out of Afghanistan. We would, essentially, be kicking the entire army
out of Afghanistan.
Yeah, I'm in a
cynical mood today. In truth, I'm being sarcastic in calling this a wonderful
idea. It has some merit, but I think the Marine Corps benefits a lot from
operating side by side with the army, and so does the
army.
But then again, if Al Anbar is
peaceful, and the Marines are the nation's premier shock troops, it doesn't make
much sense to leave them where they are.
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