I want to e-mail these fine articles to all of my friends, but there seems to be no way to do this. Why not? The other VV
pages always provide a "forward" link. Good idea?

HARKAVY REPLIES:

I feel your pain. All I can suggest is that you cut and paste the URL into a new e-mail message.
Thanks for reading.

Posted by: Donald Waits at May 22, 2008 11:41 AM

Perhaps the relative absence of US ground forces in the latest Sadr City push only reflects a painful lesson we learned in Vietnam. Heavy US troop losses would be unwelcome in an election year and probably prevent any "October surprose" by Bush if he should attack Iran.

However, that seems to be all the US has learned from its Vietnam debacle.

So what may be more important is what the Sadrists have taken from the Vietnam "playbook." Evacuating Iraqi civilians is one part of the grand strategy. Allowing government forces to act arbitrarily against the civilians who remain behind is another. Make sure your enemy does most of the bloodletting -- especially if it involves reprisals.

Allowing the Sadrists to pick their spots to fight Maliki's forces is still another. The average VC/FLN foot soldier fought about one day in 30. The rest of the time "Charlie" and his NVA buddies spent going underground, building fortifications, and gathering intelligence for the next fight.

We have yet to see what eventually plays out in Sadr City.

So why -- in God's name -- would anyone celebrate the successful push by the Iraqi government into Sadr City on the first day? Have they never seen a civil war fought by guerilla forces before?

Posted by: pelle lindbergh at May 22, 2008 12:42 PM

You seem to be trying very hard to refute good news, but you're using weak statements to do so.

Harkavy replies:
Thanks for reading, but I don't think it's a stretch to note that we've been bombing the hell out of Sadr City for months now and that there have been numerous stories about how its residents have fled. (The AP story I cited was only one account. Go to irinnews.net for others.)
There's good reason to be skeptical of such accounts of success if you have read anything about the Iraqi troops and police. For more on that subject go to sigir.mil, the website of the Defense Department's special inspector general for iraq reconstruction. You'll see reports there--on the government's own site--about the woeful state of Iraq's own troops. Just another reason to be skeptical about any "success" claimed by U.S. officials.

Posted by: Bob at May 22, 2008 4:45 PM

It amazes me that some in the media view Sadr and his goons as a benevolent charitable organization. In reality they are a mafia like group that goes door to door to extort money from the residents they "protect". Things are not going as well as the US would like, but hard decisions have been make by the Maliki government. Those decisions have brought all Iraqi parties (except Sadr's) to support the Prime Minister. The Iraqis are overwhelming pleased with their army's progress in Basra and especially Mosul. Sadr City was a rat nest that the IA cleared. The city could not move forward with millions of Iraqis under siege by Sadr. Are the IA, IP, and NP fully trained and adequate forces now? No. Are they improving, yes. Mosul provides a glimpse of what the IA is capable of accomplishing.

Posted by: Tom at May 23, 2008 2:46 AM

Could it possibly be that the Iraqi Army could move into Sadr City alone because they have been trained and are capable and don't need the US forces? That is good news. Could it be that, now that there is security in Sadr City, all the displaced people can move back? Have you read the agreement between Sadr and the Iraqi Government? It says the government can do whatever a government should do and the militia must back down and disarm or face the consequences. This is good news. The newspapers have not been duped, they are finally catching on to what has been going on since the surge began.

HARKAVY REPLIES:
You make some good points. But I'm not just guessing about the abilities of the Iraqi troops and Iraqi police. The U.S. government's own special inspector, Stuart Bowen, recently released a report about Iraqi troops that revealed how the U.S. government has grossly inflated the numbers and abilities of those troops. And IRIN, an excellent news service (non-partisan) on the ground in Iraq, continues to report the desperate situation in Sadr City, and it was desperate before the troops entered because the U.S. had recently bombed the hell out of it, causing a mass exodus.
I'd like to be optimistic about the Iraqi troops, but there just isn't much evidence, other than the propaganda that's being spewed out.
Thanks for writing and feel free to any time.

Posted by: MattR at May 25, 2008 1:28 AM