BREAKING DEEP: THE OFFICIAL 11 POINT PLAN FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ
EXCLUSIVE: THE FULL 11 POINT PLAN FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ by General David Petraeus Commander of all U.S. Forces in Iraq, Admiral William Fallon, Centcom Commander, Middle East, and Ryan C. Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
This is the 11 point plan that the men in charge of U.S. Victory in Iraq have submitted to The White House, The Pentagon and the State Department, and which will serve as the blueprint for victory in Iraq. It has been brought to me and confirmed by sources both inside and outside of the Military.
This plan allays a principle fear of both John McCain and mine that we would be just sending in reinforcements without a specific battle plan, and our young American servicemen would just be rolling around waiting to get blown up, or sitting around waiting to get mortared. This is a masterful, aggressive and detailed battle plan unfolding, which makes the fuzzy headed and entirely politically motived Congressional actions being taken by the Democrats particularly absurd, annoying, damaging, and undermining of the U.S. Military and the Nation’s best interests.
1. U.S. troops are to be gradually pulled back from all Iraqi cities and towns and sent to seal the borders with Iran and Syria. The real insurgency is not indigenous to Iraq, but being pumped in through Iran and Syria.
2. Ramadi and Baghdad will be two of a handful of initial principle exceptions, as major U.S supported military engagements are in process in Baghadad and gearing up in Ramadi.
3. Iraqi Military Units meeting standards of “militia cleansing” ( ie militia free ) and ideologically dedicated to a United Iraq will be upgraded to Elite Status and given full operational autonomy.
4. Generals and leaders from Saddam’s Baath party, many out of work for three years, will be encouraged to rejoin the military enticed with high-pay and bonuses designed to serve as retrograde pay for their time off. The Baath party generals will be key to victory in Al Anbar Province, as I will lay out later today or tomorrow.
5. The state of security in each Area of Operations will dictate the tempo of U.S. pullback from towns to the Iranian and Syrian borders.
6. A massive assault is shortly due to be launched on Ramadi, the capital of Al Qaeda, and the remnants of the Sunni Insurgency, in Iraq. Ramadi has degenerated to a sort of post-modern trench warfare, Marines and Soldiers locked away in a variety of new urban outposts, while all the schools have finally been closed and it is nigh on impossible for the average citizen to conduct his daily life. The deadlock must be broken, and Al Qaeda must finally be ejected.
7. We will be “firing” most of the Sunni Tribal chieftans who we had been relying on as our major allies in fighting Al Qaeda in Al Anbar. The young chieftains were just absolutely no match for the superior Al Qaeda warriors, and outside of Ramadi their roles will be replaced by the new Baathist Generals brought into the mix. Al Qaeda had been going in for the kill on the Sunni tribes in the last few months, and we are employing such aggressive action to turn it around. I will shortly give a scoop as to how we are going to use the locals inside Ramadi itself.
8. Massively step up talks with, and put pressure on, those Sunni tribal leaders we have not been able to bring over to our side. Saudi Arabia will be involved with this.
9. Immediate, highly visible Infrastructure improvement first focused on the peaceful and cooperative areas of Mosul, Amara and Karbala. The idea is to make other areas around jealous of the rapidly modernizing cities, in order to incent them to tow the line of cooperation with the new Iraqi Government.
Such improvements will include, but are not limited to dozens of new bridges being built to accommodate the literally trebling of auto ownership in Iraq since the liberation; the building of many new hospitals to modern standards of medicine ( Ever been to an Iraqi hospital? Just stay home where it’s cleaner and send someone to fetch some drugs ); a massive campaign for fresh American private sector investment, and a raising of all school standards, with a centerpiece of several new universities being built.
10. Electoral Reform: The old system of national parties selecting candidates for positions was believed to have unfairly tipped the balance in favor of the Shiites and led to too many Pro-Iranian, Pro-Achmedinejad candidates ( like the nutbag terrorist Al Sadr ) receiving too many seats in the parliament. A new system of local candidates simply stepping forward and adding their name to the ballot will instead prevail.
11. And finally, a census will be taken. Believe it or not, we do not who is where nor how many of them there are.
This is the official, mostly secret 11 Point Plan for Success.
Starting tomorrow I will begin giving you the blow by blow updates on actual on the ground progress and upcoming, releasable, tactical plans.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
All of these points make sense except for the electoral reform bit. I don’t understand, if the majority want an Islamic Republic then why shouldn’t they have it? I myself oppose the notion of another Islamic Republic, but then what the hell was the point of bringing “freedom” to people. Anyways, Iraq is FUBAR and will be for along time thanks to us, saddam and Iran. No doubt about that. You should take a vacation and go to Iran, you would LOVE it. Tons of goodies and women.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:25 pmPat,
February 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pmYou mentioned the fact that you will be monitoring how the ground campaign is coming. What resources do you use/have to keep so informed. Are there any websites that you suggest? Keep up the good work! Thanks again!
fraser
Pat,
I heard you the first time on the John Zigler show on
KFI 640 AM in LA. I live in Corona, Ca.
Keep up the great work I’m with you and I’m sure a
great majority of Americans as well.
God Bless,
John
February 18th, 2007 at 4:03 pmThe point of the electoral reform is to make the process more democratic, not less. Any individual will be allowed to step forward instead of being chosen by national party bosses.
You never know when you might find me in Iran.
February 18th, 2007 at 5:00 pmIt’s about time we did something about Ramadi. Operation Phantom Fury was the shiz and I hope we do the same or more to that shithole. Kill.
February 18th, 2007 at 6:40 pmHi Pat,
Great work buddy. The information is dead nuts on! Unlike the explination the World media gave it.
First to Medhi, your point about the electoral would be a bull’s eye, but of course you would have to beleive everything you he heard on the network news was accurate about the Iraqi’s wanting to be SUPPRESSED… AGAIN!
I have been to Iraq (twice) and have walked those patrols through the streets with soldiers. Always invited into the homes of the locals for chi tea and cookies. As it is the Iraqi way to be polite to invited guest. Not like Jon Keri (spelling ha ha) would have you believe. What you never hear about is the freedoms that many of these people are enjoying for the very first time in generasions. I KNOW, THEY TOLD ME WHILE I WAS SITTING IN THEIR LIVING ROOM ENJOYING CHI TEA! And I sure the hell didn’t see John Fucking Kerry there. You know why, because he was invited, nor would he ever be invited into the home of an Iraqi citizen. They know he’s not interested in the least of seeing the United States or the Iraqis succeed at democracy. So the point is this Medhi. As I have witnessed, the Iraqi people want the same things you and I do, peace. They want their children to leave in the morning and return in the afternoon. In one piece! They want the sounds of death that echo throughout the days and nights to dissipate like a sunset, silently. They want to live as all free men do, with choices.
Yes, there is a group in Iraq that wants an Islamic ruled government… but it is not the majority. And if it was measured by the people I met in my last two trips over the last year It would be less than 10%… but then again I was walking around with a lot or American Soldiers, go figure.
And Fraser; here is your answer. And PLEASE pass this along to everyone you know and everyone you want to know. This is an instant reporting site from the Multi National Forces Iraq Public Affairs Office (camp) Victory. Camp Victory is the main camp right of the airport, better know as “BIAP” in B-daddy (Baghdad). You will get “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” reports long before the National and World Media reports them, but they never do report them, so this is the only place you will get the “straight poop”.
Just e-mail them at the address below and tell them you want to be added to the Press Release e-mail list. I get at least twenty to thirty releases a day with the truth of what is going on, minute by minute. One other thing; this is the same press release system that goes out to every major and minor news organization in the WORLD and you still won’t see these stories unless someone died… “”if it bleeds it leads” ala Robert Redford.
If you are interested at the end of this I pasted a press release from just a few hours ago. I didn’t pick this one just because it is the one great success story today showing our troops and the U.S. trained Iraqi units taking the fight to the enemy and winning… they’re all like this. Subscribe and you will start to see what the media withholds from the citizens it supposed to be serving.
“MNC-I PAO Victory Main JOC”
Mike
P.S. I’ll let you know when I’m headed for Iran. You can fly my wing anytime “Ice”.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070218-02
Feb. 18, 2007
Coalition Forces Capture Senior-Level Leader In Bombing Network
Multi-National Corps - Iraq PAO
BAGHDAD - Members of the Ninewa Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics team
captured a suspected insurgent leader Feb. 17 during operations with
Coalition advisers in eastern Mosul. The suspect is reportedly linked
to Al Qaeda in Iraq and is tied to several recent attacks targeting
Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces in the area.
Iraqi forces carried out operations with minimal damage and there were
no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or Coalition Forces casualties.
-30-
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS - IRAQ, PUBLIC
AFFAIRS OFFICE BY E-MAIL AT
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
If this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from
mandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, “DoD Freedom of
Information Act Program”, DoD Directive 5230.9, “Clearance of DoD
Information for Public Release”, and DoD Instruction 5230.29, “Security
and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release” apply.
One last note. This is the unit I have been embedded with and will be returning to very soon. HOOAH!
February 18th, 2007 at 8:23 pmWell I went back there (Iran) last summer after 27 years. I seriously had the best time. Went to tons of parties. Its is pure decadence right under the mullahs noses. Amazing place. Can’t wait to get back there next year.
February 18th, 2007 at 11:11 pmMedhi
Damn wily Mullahs. See, their just lying to us about their lifestyle preferences to keep us away and off their bitches..
It’s probably, actually, a Sharia obligation to do so.
February 18th, 2007 at 11:16 pmEven many Americans don’t understand that majority rule is precisely the opposite of individual freedom, as it sanctions bullying the unpopular. Majority rule in American democracy was designed only to fill offices of limited power. Religious states, by definition, violate the individual’s right to religious liberty by requiring him to financially support and submit to an arbitrary belief system he does not share.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:51 amThis is the first time I’ve been to your site. My question-if this is suppose to be SECRET why the heck are you reporting it?
February 19th, 2007 at 5:10 amIf this really is the plan, why the hell are you printing it? Does no-one care about tipping the enemy anymore? Does everyone assume jihadis don’t read blogs?
February 19th, 2007 at 5:36 amWell, it used to be the secret plan.
February 19th, 2007 at 6:00 amDo a favor for me, willya? Make sure to keep the “secret” parts off the place where bad guys read it. It’s not as though you work for the NYT, you know…
February 19th, 2007 at 6:11 amThat whole religion aspect is all bullshit. It’s all to do with Power. They want to keep their power, therefore they let things slide. Kinda like here. Except over here they inundate us with Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith. Nothing real. It was ridiculous to me how much Iran reminded me of a mini USA. It’s nothing like Iraq.
February 19th, 2007 at 7:09 amI agree with the need for electoral reform. While don’t they just use single member constituencies instead of the party list system? It stands to reason that this way members of parliament would have to represent all people in their district and would reduce the amount of sectarianism.
February 19th, 2007 at 7:23 amIs this classified?
If so, why did you put it on the Internet?
Even if it isn’t classified, is it helpful to our enemies to know our plans?
February 19th, 2007 at 7:26 amIran certainly is nothing like Iraq. It is actually a lot of fun and quite scenic and architectural. But the rhetoric from the President and the religious leadership is much worse than it’s been for decades. Meanwhile, the citizens are more aware of the world than they’ve been for decades and don’t follow religious rule very closely.
Iran has a long history of political autonomy from Islam. That’s supposed to be the Shiite tradition. People who say Islam is inflexible haven’t seen the massive change from 1960 Iran and 1980 Iran. Iranian are a practical people and I really hope some political reform is possible before a major conflict arises.
And yeah, the USA has Paris Hilton and other symbols of bad taste and stupidity, but it’s also got quite a bit of technological and financial success. Like Iran, a bit of everything.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:03 amShould we be publishing this on a website? Just wondering about opsec….
February 19th, 2007 at 8:10 amLet’s not get our panties in a wad over the supposed ’secrecy’ of this plan. Secrets have a very short half-life. Opposing forces receive the secret information far more quickly than the American people do. Believe me, once we’re told about it, it is guaranteed to no longer be secret. Except for those very rare cases where our own internal political opponents happen upon the story - which is not true in this case.
Finally, even if this plan is true, it is merely the plan that was in place at the start of the operational phase. Even if our opponents know about it - and I am sure that they already do - plans shift and change constantly during any operation. Do not underestimate the enemy - because they are crafty and intelligent in their own vicious manner, we must and will adjust our plan.
I sincerely hope we do get to exert maximum pressure along the Iranian and Syrian borders. These two countries are barely even attempting to disguise their aims and practices inside Iraq. They richly deserve some border thrashings.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:57 amI doubt there is an OPSEC concern here. None of the points are terribly specific, and I have my doubts that this is really The Plan. It appears to be a list of random tasks that ignore the elements of operational design. I can’t imagine GEN Petraeus would formulate a plan without regard to endstate, center of gravity, and decisive points in logical lines of operation.
February 19th, 2007 at 9:03 amI gotta say that I’m kind of surprised that we’ve decided to go the “plan” route. All I’ve been hearing for the past three years is that no plan survives the first contact with the enemy. Of course, that was just a winger rationalization for the poor to non-existent planning by the administration hitherto. This one looks fairly promising, in parts, but to say that the “real insurgency is not indigenous to Iraq, but being pumped in through Iran and Syria” is sheer delusion, and thus to believe that we’ll be able to purge the IA of militia and bring in “pure” Baathists, in anything like a timely manner, is rather doubtful.
February 19th, 2007 at 9:07 amMichael Slee, that is a great source of information. I’ve been following that site, and CENTCOM since the war started. Here is the website where you can see the press releases, and sign up for a weekly roundup of the news. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/
Pat - great work you’re doing, to many people are “buying” the soda straw view of Iraq that the mainstream media is foisting on them. Looking forward to seeing your documentary when completed.
Dustin - when you say the rhetoric is much worse, are you talking about the rhetoric from Iran?
That kind of electoral reform is something we should support here in the States. Imagine any dullard being able to run for high office, rather then the dullards “chosen by (state and) national party bosses.”
February 19th, 2007 at 9:20 am[…] Is this THE OFFICIAL 11 POINT PLAN FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ? […]
February 19th, 2007 at 9:46 amI’m concerned about security… but what of these 11 points is not either known already, in outline, or predictable, or immediately apparent once it starts? I don’t see any major breaches in what our host has revealed; am I wrong?
Details should be kept close, but where’s the downside in giving this broad outline? What’s been missing in Iraq has not so much been information about what to do, but orders and support to do it. Please Allah and Democrats, let’s have that support now!
February 19th, 2007 at 10:10 amHaha. It’s funny how many people find this information to be any violation of OPSEC, let alone a danger to our military. This info coulden’t be any more vague. It’s just an outline of what we plan on doing around the place.
February 19th, 2007 at 12:31 pmGood stuff here as always. Personally I don’t like how open we are with military plans but hey, they know what they’re doing more than I do.
Can’t wait to see more videos of yours. It seems like for every 1 video of yours I see 20 of Marines/Soldiers being asshats, such as throw a flash bang at a sheep herder. I would be totally discouraged if it wasn’t for your website.
Thanks again.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:04 pmAs someone who’s been involved with the Iraqi electoral process, I cannot stress enough just how bad the present system is.
Iraq currently has a fully proportional representation system for Parliamentary elections. Meaning, if your party (or coalition) gets 33% of the vote, you get 33% of the seats. This ensures that sectarian interests are represented in Parliament in roughly the same number as their population. Even small groups like the Yezidi or Sabeans get 1 or 2 members. This sort of ability to be “representative” is WAY big in the Islamic world.
If you want an electoral system that consolidates power in the hands of a few sectarian party bosses and prevents any representative from appealing to any population outside his narrow sectarian constituency - this is the perfect system. If you want an electoral system that makes representatives responsible to the actual people they serve, PR is very much the *worst* system you could possibly imagine that can still be called democratic.
This is because PR works by having the parties put forth “lists” of candidates. For instance “555″ (the shia coalition) puts together a list of 275 candidates (275 seats in Parliament.) They got, i think, 131 seats. That means the first 131 candidates on the list get seats in Parliament. Who determines your placement on the list? The party bosses! So you can be #12 on the list or #176 - depending on how loyal you are to the party leader. Obviously, since being an MP brings with it many perks including cash and immunity - you want to be up high on that list. Conversely, whether or not your constituents are happy with you is irrelevant, because your placement on the list is wholly dependent on the party leaders.
However, were Iraq to develop a system based on geographic constituencies (based on a census) and adopt a “first past the post” system, sectarian groupings would be represented unevenly and some groups would never be represented at all. However, the representatives elected would be forced to be much more responsive to their voters in their geographic constituency. This is because they’d need to provide their voters with enough reason to vote for them and build enough coalitions among the electorate to get to 50% +1 vote. As a result, the ability of a small group of party leaders to dictate policy would be greatly reduced.
Unfortunately, adopting this type of syetm requires two things:
1) It relies on the party leaders, who now control the legislative/constitutional process, to voluntarily put into place a system that will dilute their power. Once PR is put in place as a representational system, it is notoriously difficult to change because it is not in the interests of the power brokers.
2) It will require significant changes in the current constitution. Given that the Parliament is paralyzed over constitutional amendments of an even less divisive nature (oil revenue sharing, etc.) the chances that the Iraqi Council of representatives will puch through such an electoral change is unlikely.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:17 pmKeith-Indy I’m sure Dustin meant the rhetoric coming from the Iranian president and Religious figures, but I don’t blame you for possibly mistaking that he meant W. I know most of the people on here won’t agree with me, but the parallels are a bit ironic. I’m not doing a straight comparison, but on certain issues they are more alike than either of them or us would like to admit.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:42 pmNo OPSEC was breached. The word secret was not meant to imply classified - the broadstrokes outlined above have already become available to “the other team”. I am 100% certain of that, or I would not hove posted this.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:59 pm[…] Dollard gives us an interesting rundown of what he calls the 11-point plan for victory in Iraq submitted to the White House, Pentagon and State Department (which he claims has been confirmed by […]
February 19th, 2007 at 3:08 pmYeah I meant President Ahmedinijad and the religious leadership of Iran are returning to more outspoken ways.
I don’t know that George Bush really is speaking more extremely than, say Clinton in 1998 when referring to Iraq. If he is it isn’t a severe difference (though attitudes in the USA are obviously much more extreme about the middle east since 2001.
Bush is really the representative of a large coaltion of people who elected him. Most of what he does he can’t avoid doing - but he’s supposed to be able to clearly communicate his goals and inspire the nation to fulfill our objectives. He’s failed miserably to make the case. When he stumbles on a point, he just keeps on stumbling. When WMD’s were not found in the way we expected, he should have quickly responded why it’s still important to be there and acknowledged that the intelligence wasn’t reliable (is it ever?). Bush has been inflexible in Iraq in general and he’s been awful about inpsiring confidence that this is a worthy war. And believe me, Clinton or Reagan or many other leaders would have been very able to explain what a tough nut to crack Iraq is and why it’s important to work this problem out. Whether or not we should have gone into Iraq (reasonable people truly can disagree here, I guess) the fact is that Al Qaeda has made a major stand there, Iran has sent resources there (and Iran is running out of money), and we’ve managed to use this war to tear down Al Qaeda’s communication and financial network in a way we couldn’t have done in Afghanistan. Not to mention that Iraq was the source of hundreds of billions of dollars of corruption in France, China, Russia, and Germany (that fed a very murderous regime) and the war effort that stopped those killings and that money was, in and of itself, worthwhile.
I’m very disappointed in Bush. This war shouldn’t be about Bush. We had no choice but to enter into an ugly bad choice of aw ar somewhere, there was just too much built up tyranny in the Middle East over the many years of the cold war. We should be discussing different ideas about how to win, not struggling to even bring winning into the discussion at all. The idea that this war is unwinnable when we beat Japan is laughable. Yet most folks believe this war can’t be won.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:08 pmThe most important thing is locking down the borders. I’ve said that from the begining. If they don’t do that, they won’t be able to accomplish the other 10 goals.
After the borders are secure I’d put more scrutiny on those trying to leave Iraq rather than entering.
The terrorists are already there. Once the borders are locked down they will run out of supplies and support and will have no choice but to try to leave and sneak back another day.
Catch them when they leave, turn them over to the Iraqis and let then deal with them in their own special way.
I understand that, with the Iraqis in charge now, the prisoners in Abu-Ghraib are wistfully remembering the Good Ol’ Days when all the Americans did was play a few Frat jokes on them.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:13 pmWe are preparing to bomb Iran and Syria. This “plan” is disinformation, some of it is no doubt true, but there is a big lie embedded in point #1.
The insurgency is not being stoked from Iran and Syria. The State Department has reported that between 4% and 10% of insurgents are foriegners and the bulk of these are Saudi Arabian Sunni.
[url]http://www.aeaweb.org/annual_mtg_papers/2007/0105_1430_1601.pdf[/url]
Syria has even tightened its border restrictions and visa requirements as it tries to cope with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees.
We are being collectively asked to believe that the reason we are not currently successful in Iraq is because of Iran and Syrian action. The logical step Israel and the NeoCons would then like us to take is attacks on both countries.
I personally fail to see how it is in Americas interests to follow this plan, but I guess its going to happen that way.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:54 pmRoger all. Thanks. Keep charging, man…
February 19th, 2007 at 7:03 pmAnother great article, Pat. Thanks!
February 19th, 2007 at 7:33 pmIf you are someone who thinks OPSEC has been breached because of this posting, you have spent TOO MUCH TIME watching “24″ and “The Unit” and NOT ENOUGH time doing IED Sweeps, High Value Target Snatches, or finding weapons caches. You are probably also someone who has no clue about escalation of force, Rules of Engagement, or a 5 Paragraph order. In other words, “Shut the fuck up.”
Thank you for your time.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:48 pmSecuring the border, where have I heard that before? Sounds like a great idea, but we all know that end result unfortunately.
Trusting some Bathists, meh don’t turn your back on them.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:14 amOtherwise the plan seems to be pretty sound.
The pic of Petraeus is a bit out of date, give the man 2 more stars on that lapel
February 20th, 2007 at 10:22 amThe problem is that nobody had the courage to say that our 4 star clowns were botching the job. God forbid the Pentagon generals are criticized. Oh no that means we you don’t support the troops. God forbid. It must be tough in an organization that doesn’t allow criticism but you know its costing your friends lives so you have to sit around and hope MAYBE they will change tactics. Wow. 4 years later they have a solid plan. Any of you guys at least take some of that 12 billlion in cash Bremer left lying around.
February 20th, 2007 at 1:51 pmPat, I applaud your work and courage, thanks for keepin us informed.
February 20th, 2007 at 11:54 pmIf the majority of the insurgents are Saudi, that is quite interesting. Saudi Arabia has a hefty incentive to help reduce that–the last thing they want is for us to be defeated in Iraq, which would give Iran a opportunity to expand their power. The question is whether they have the ability to patrol their border with Iraq. I can’t help thinking of the fact that we had to feed their troops in the desert in ‘91 because they didn’t have the logistical resources to do so. They may not be able to project enough power onto their border to make any difference. If this could be remedied it could be quite helpful.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:53 amhttp://sayanythingblog.com/entry/getting_the_news_from_the_enemy_update_iii/
Bogus source.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:26 amJeff
Nowhere does it say the majority of the Saudis are insurgents. What the plan says is exactly what you are looking for: we have enlisted the Saudis to help control the Sunni Insurgents, and destroy the Al Qaeda insurgents. The Saudis have paid off a tribe for us to fight as our allies, ala the Norhtern Alliance in Afghanistan.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pmPaul Hermann:
What job has been botched? The War on Terror? I’m pretty sure that we are still fighting insurgents, insurgents are synonomous with terrorists in case you’re confused about that. People like yourself seem to forget that people die in wars. Every person in the military today has actually VOLUNTEERED their service, that means they went and signed up on their own. When they did that they swore to defend this country and it’s constitution and to follow orders from the Commander in Chief. Not to sit back and have the luxury of being one of the protected back on the land that we are fighting for and criticize what’s going on and what tactics are being used. I leave you with this, enjoy your freedom to say that we have botched something over there, because it is what we, the men and women who stand ready to do what needs to be done to protect innocent persons fights for.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:32 pmDoes paul hermann have any military experience? Do you know that all wars use propaganda to encourage its troops and discourage the enemy?
Not criticizing the generals publicly is a means to maintain the appearance of good organization and superior planning. CNN doesnt get this or they are purposely trying to subvert this.
Use common sense: when you go to war you do everything in your power to convince your troops in the righteousness of the cause, strength of the plan, the courage and compassion of the leadership and the superiority and competance of the troops themselves in order to achieve one thing: Victory!
Look at any competative sport and give me one successful team that gives into defeatism as a means to achieve victory! They never dwell on the negatives, they suck it up, look for their second wind, and kick and scratch for victory. Admitting mistakes in the moment does nothing but damage to morale and causes the team to lose heart.
Wake up and smell the coffee! get out of your loser mentality that pelosi, murtha and company wallow in each day! Join the winning team.
February 21st, 2007 at 5:39 pmNotice no one ever mentions Kurdistan when criticizing bush and the war! go to www.theotheriraq.org for info about whats going on in kurdistan. The main thing I like about their governance is that they desire a completely secular government for iraq, no mullah will have theirs hands in governmental affairs.
Kurds are cool!
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:34 pmwinners dont dwell on mistakes, they learn from them. the 11 point plan addresses the previous mistakes indirectly while maintaining a positive outlook for the future.
Go USA!
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:36 pmI watched the Red Zone on Fox and caught you your website here. Finally an honest perspective of what is happening. Then, the move on Sadir militants that should have happened several years ago. We could have withdrawn a long time ago if the Politicians stayed out of the war, and allowed the commanders to fight this war. We have already seen improvements in than regard and they should clean their clocks.
My personal view is that many have bitched about the reason for going in. It was the ineffectiveness of the UN, that we keep soaking billions into. The place is corrupt and they can be brought and sold. The WMD’s information was lame. We should not be fighting wars for other countries! Only the strong will survive! If they haven’t the will to fight for their own freedom, why should our troops be dying because of their radical beliefs. This is to keep the flow to big oil so they can continue to make their billion dollar profits. This is a huge money-maker for Halliburton. You have all of these American contractors getting killed. When are they going to allow the Iraqi’s to go to work and let them rebuild their own country. The violence is spurred by all the unemployment. Put them to work. That will end most of the violence! These contractors are making 200-300 thousand of tax free income every year, per person.
February 25th, 2007 at 9:45 amDon’t worry about tipping the plan to the enemy on this website. They’re all posting stuff over at the blogs on CNN, The Huffington Post and Michael Moore.
February 25th, 2007 at 10:36 pm[…] read more | digg story […]
February 26th, 2007 at 12:28 pmGo!
March 3rd, 2007 at 10:26 pmPat, you’re awesome. Probably one of the most if not the most fascinating guys in Hollywood today. And I hate to play devil’s advocate but everybody on this site is so Hooah! and Kill! somebody’s gotta be: What if the plan fails? Most Americans think were failing. Many americans want us to fail and the entire planet is praying that we fail. And by most accounts, save this bunko site, we are failing. And then, beyond that, what if the plan sort of works? That is, curbs violence. Makes shiites and sunnis come to the negotiating table. should we then declare victory and then begin the big draw-down? Bomb goes off, it starts again. The point here is, I don’t think anybody fighting there or watching it here has any idea what victory means anymore. and i really could care less if you had tea with some friendly iraqi. Friendly iraqis matter about as much as friendly americans. Friendly but irate, pro-america, pro-active iraqis, however, are another story. and there’s just not enough of them. But here’s to hoping.
March 4th, 2007 at 6:03 pmFirst to Crpl Smith. It is your duty based on the Nuremberg laws to disobey illegal orders. Come on you guys know what those are. Ask the vets that have now turned on this war. Do you honestly think that Iraqis are incapable of governing without the mighty green giants? Thats crap and your criminal CIChief knows it. The war on Terror was in Afghanistan. Hey how many of those guys in those planes were Iraqi? I guess an A-Rab is an A-rab
March 5th, 2007 at 12:59 pmI think not criticizing the CIChief is the mistake as well as the Generals. Bush had zero handle on this and you guys know it. All you guys did was Criticize Pres Clinton. B ut that was fine. Because technically Clinton
was working the Diplomatic side more than the milirtary side. This does not sit well with you. By the way Iraq WAS NEVER A DAMN THREAT. Come on guys. I know you know im right. Somewhere in each of you knows Im right. Rebel only go on missions that produce results. The funny thing is I bet you NCO’s are tactically better than your officers by 2007. .
Paul Hermann:
I do know what an illegal order is, yes thank you I am in the military. I have been on two combat deployments in the Marines and I am infantry as well. In the 15 months that I have spent overseas I have not been issued an illegal order so I really don’t know where you’re getting your information. Do you know how many of those terrorists on 9-11 were from Afghanistan? hmmm I guess an “A-rab” is an “A-rab” though right? Yet we fought the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan….. Can you guess what one of the largest anti-coalition forces in Iraq is? Can you? In case you haven’t figured it out it’s a little group called Al-Qaeda. I’m sorry I forgot you have been there so many times and been in so many engagements with the enemy and read so many intel reports that you know something I don’t right? That must be it. Once this series comes out go ahead and watch it, you will see me. I was in Ramadi with Pat for a couple months talked with him much, you will get just a taste of what we young Americans are doing on a daily basis. Yet you sit back and criticize the troops for not raising a bull shit flag on somebody? There’s no flag to be flown other than the fact that Congress has tied our hands beyond belief with our rules of engagement and not allowed us to do our jobs. Paul imagine if you will if in WWII congress ran the show like they are today, here’s a little scenario for you. “Excuse me Colonel, but we need you to go ahead and take the next town, however; there must be little to no collateral damage, ensure that you win the hearts and minds of the Nazi’s and there will be embedded liberal reporters with you who will twist everything you do to make you seem like the bad guy in this war”. Can you imagine? No they just told him go take the next village, he went and took it and whatever happened, happened but he took that fucking village. I don’t care what kind of politics you want to talk about, my job is to go do what I am told to do, and god damn if i’m not good at it. So to paul I say once again enjoy your freedom of speech there were 9 brave young people that died for it yesterday.
March 6th, 2007 at 11:19 amPaul, you seem to miss the fact that your hero Bill clinton also went against a UN vote to go into Bosnia. So much for diplomacy. he also sent soldiers into somalia undermanned with no tanks so they could be slaughtered.
The War on terror is not relegated to afghanistan. Do you rememeber when Bush said we will go after the terorrists and those who harbor them. Saddam was harboring the guy responsible for the 1993 bombing of the WTC, the mastermind of the achille lauro attack , was sending money to families of palestinians suicide attackers. and just because we are fighting terrorism doesnt mean we sidestep other problems. Our military was trained to fight at least 2 campaigns simultaneously.
Every soldier has the right to disobey orders, whether they deem them unlawful or not, and face potential consequences. A corporal New did just that during the clinton administration when he refused to deploy as a UN soldier. His contention was that he swore an oath to the USA and The UN. He was tried and convicted and thrown in jail because he was still disobeying orders from an american superior. I supported his going against the orders and not rying to flee the country. he took the punishment like a man. Too many of those didsenting against this war are dissenting not against its legality but its feasibility or its sustainability. these are excuses for those who have loser mentalities, which is a democrat quality. They think the odds are insurmountable. they are losers who should be relegated to desk duty because their attitude is a detriment to unit cohesion and a danger to the lives of those who are fighting hard for the cause of freedom and justice.
Dont gloat over legalities and technicalities! You are part of this loser cause that has made so many americans resign themselves cahmpion the cause of anyone who deems themselves a victim. Misery loves company!
March 6th, 2007 at 9:55 pmBoy you guys are harsh!! My point is this. Ok guys our mission tonight is to kick the door in of an Iraqi family who MAYBE has an AK or pistol. You knock the door down and the guys familiy is huddled in a corner. He is handcuffed right away, You find a pistol he saya he is trying to protect his family. Your officer says bullshit “take this asshole away” The guy is put on a truck with a bag over his head and sent to a prison were he is then Tortured. For what? That’s fighting the war on terrorism?
March 14th, 2007 at 5:54 amI can see maybe the first dozen times. But I mean how many foolish missions like that are you going to do before you say enough. You NCO ’s really have more power than you think.
Also Crpl Smith educate me further. How do you recognize Al Qaeda from reg Iraqis? I assume you will say by the method i spelled out above. I just think that creates more anger which creates more chances of an attack here at home. Why didn’t the Pentagon provide your units with Arabic speaking liasons right off the bat. I feel the military mindset is to rigid to “win hearts and minds” Also is not Young Americans somewhat dated with respect to 2007 situation? Im not trying to insult man just asking your opinion
I will remind you TJ that many people have served in the military honorably and are Democrats. I think even you will admit that itsa time for a change in the White House. There are plenty of Republicans who agree that this attack on Iraq was hastily planned and a fresh approach is needed. My quesion is how long and how much more money is needed to “WIN”.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:59 amTell me what you consider victory in Iraq? When you answer you will be showing more intellect and guts than the CIC who has not defined what victory is.
Paul Hermann
I will start by sayiing you obviously watch too much CNN and make so many assumptions from that it’s not even funny, it’s extremely frustrating. There are three different ways we can search a house, a cordon knock, cordon search and a cordon raid. The only time we “knock the door down” is when we are on a raid. Raids are also few and inbetween. I know that you have probably seen different military video’s of guys knocking doors down and assume that’s what happens everytime. That is very much so NOT the case, majority of the time we knock on the door and allow the family to open the door for us. Military aged men are sometimes placed in handcuffs right away but once again not majority of the time. Next if the father of a residence is truly attempting to protect his house, then his weapon/weapons will be registered and he will have documents proving this and he will be able to keep them. I can’t tell you why we didn’t have translators when we first got there, i’m sure we did just not enough, but i’m not 100% positive, i’m not in linguistics or logistics, i’m in the infantry. I know what kind of power I have and hold and what my capabilities and limitations are. I hope that this has further educated you Paul. Please don’t continue to be ignorant and believe everything you see on CNN. If you really want to know what’s going on over there, stop by your local recruiting station and take a vacation over there all expenses paid. In response to your comment to TJ, why does it matter how much more money is required? Why do you really care other than it just being something you see on the headline news of YAHOO when you open your browser why does it bother you so much? What is your definition of victory in Iraq or do you even care enough to have one or is it once again a headline news topic for you? And why does victory matter to you are you going to be going over there anytime soon is it going to effect your life in some way other than taking up 15 minutes of your evening news time? Don’t forget that the invasion of Iraq was approved by both parties before we went in to this war. Wars cost money and lives it’s a fact. I will be on my third tour next month sometime and I have already re-enlisted in the Corps, I love what I do and will go as many times as my country calls for me to do. You don’t understand what it is to fight for your country, or for the person next to you, or to lose your best friend and have to close the bag on him, i pray that you never do but don’t take the fact that you haven’t for granted. We stop this war, we free up their finances and personell to attack on our land again.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:16 pmOne of my closest “brothers” is a Marine…and my other “brother” is enlisting. They are answering a calling us civilians will never completely understand.
I do not care if you feel the war is B.S, protest all you want. You CAN protest because of the freedom that is being defended by men and women thousands of miles from home…then after the protest you can go to Hooters or church (in either order) and sit in peace, have a beer with friends or take your kids to school…all because someone wearing an American flag on their uniform died in the line of duty.
Even if you do not support this war, support the troops…they were the ones that brought us the luxury of freedom that many take for granted.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:37 pmPeace.
dear mr paul,
well i dont know how many people i have come across that have said the same thing you yourself have said before. the point that cpl smith is trying to make is that you have not been in iraq or afghanistan and dont actually know for sure, 100% what is going on and based off of the NEWS you go ahead and assume that the troops are mistreating innocent iraqi people. when infact there are “bad guys” over there and bad people that support terrorism that, without the help of our brave men and women would probably have attacked our great nation again and who knows what they could have done. please mr. paul, you do have the right to say these things but please dont take it for granted. maybe if you actually knew a few things that were not just propaganda you would have some credit to what you were saying and maybe you will change your views and ideas of what is going on because people like cpl smith are a dime a dozen and god bless him but he cant defend america forever.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:40 pm