Fiasco -- Some thoughts About Our Country At War

I recently finished reading Thomas Rick's book, "Fiasco" which is an amazing history of American's "Mis-adventure" in Iraq. I was prompted to read this book after reading Woodward's "State of Denial." (Thanks Jessica) It was also mentioned by Thomas Barnett in his blog and perhaps "The Pentagon's New Map."

Woodward's book focused on the mismanagement of this war by the executive branch of the Government. Rick's book targets the tragedy and mismanagement of this war by the military and the civilian leaders. One point that is quite clear is that the president's claim that he gave the military the resources they requested is certainly not correct.

Anyway, this is an exciting book that reads almost like a novel rather than non fiction.

This book makes it clear that America has been fighting an insurgency since 2003. The claim that we are fighting terrorists seems to be untrue. To a large extent, the military created the enemy we are currently fighting. We did almost everything wrong to win the hearts and minds of the public of Iraq. Most of the enemy is comprised of Sunni military who could have been brought into the Iraq Army we are trying to build. The other bad guys are the Shiite followers of Maqtadr al-Sadr who don't want an occupying army.

One of the other things that I learned was the amazing talent of the U.S. military although they made many serious errors. Its clear that you can be bright, highly trained, and motivated and still lose a war.

I can see that counties like the US can and will likely end up losing this war against a poor, technologically limited people who are willing to fight an unconventional war. There are just too many Iraqi insurgents and they have learned how to fight the mighty US military because they have won the support of the people.

I recommend this book highly. After reading Woodward's and Rick's book, there is no way I can support the people who got us into this war.

We can't leave Iraq precisely because of the mess Bush created, but we can't continue to be an occupying force.