{"id":12993,"date":"2008-07-24T11:30:33","date_gmt":"2008-07-24T17:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=12993"},"modified":"2008-07-24T11:30:33","modified_gmt":"2008-07-24T17:30:33","slug":"memo-to-the-proggosphere-msm-how-dumb-are-you-karl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=12993","title":{"rendered":"Memo to the proggosphere, MSM: How dumb are you? [Karl]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memorandum:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To:<\/strong> The proggosphere<\/a>, the Opinionated<\/a> Press<\/a>, New York Times<\/a><\/em>, et al.<\/p>\n

Re:<\/strong> Attempting to claim John McCain is wrong about the counter-insurgency in Iraq<\/p>\n

At the risk of sounding rude, how dumb are you, anyway?\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Starting an argument with John McCain over the timeline of the counter-insurgency in Iraq, e.g<\/em>., the relationship between the Anbar tribes turning against al Qaeda and the “surge,” attempting to paint this as some big gaffe of McCain’s part is a dead-bang political loser for you.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 However, as you seem blithely ignorant to the history of the counter-insurgency in Iraq, allow me to briefly recap a few points.<\/p>\n

As noted here yesterday<\/a>, those of you who have relied on The Narrative of hotel journalists from the establishment media (as opposed to embeds and milbloggers) have missed the role of the US in helping the Anbar tribes turn against al Qaeda.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 You would be well-advised to read the material linked there, but at the very least the Small Wars Journal<\/em> piece from Bing West<\/a> and the timeline presented by the Mudville Gazette<\/a>.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 However, if you insist on relying on the establishment media and are too lazy to click your mouses more than once, here is a Washington Post<\/a><\/em> story from March 7, 2006:<\/span><\/p>\n

Tribal chiefs in Iraq’s western Anbar province and in an area near the northern city of Kirkuk, two regions teeming with insurgents, are vowing to strike back at al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni Arab-led group that is waging war against Sunni tribal leaders who are cooperating with the Iraqi government and the U.S. military. Anbar tribes have formed a militia that has killed 20 insurgents from al-Qaeda in Iraq, leaders said.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Members of the Anbar militia said the group comprised about 100 people who have had relatives slain by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group is led by Ahmed Ftaikhan, a former Iraqi intelligence officer from the now-disbanded Iraqi army who lives in Ramadi.<\/p>\n

[Khalaf al-]Fahdawi, the sheik from the Albu Fahd tribe, said the militia was forged in a series of secret meetings among tribal leaders, each of whom was asked to help form the group. Some contributed men, some money, Fahdawi said. U.S. military officers attended some of the meetings, he said, and helped “with “all kinds of financial support.”<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, denied that American forces were funding the militia…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which no one with half a brain ever believed.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 The US\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0encouraged\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0and funded this movement from the outset, ultimately backing it with artillery and air support.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 The US did so as part of the evolving counter-insurgency doctrine that was ultimately formalized by Gen. Petraeus and his colleagues.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 It also did so as part of the ongoing counter-insurgency mission that came to include the increased troop levels which most think of when they hear the word “surge.”\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 It is a mission McCain has supported and Obama has opposed.<\/p>\n

Your current attempt to manufacture a McCain gaffe stems only from the fact\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0that people currently tend to think of the “surge”\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0only in terms of the increase in troop levels, as opposed to part of a larger strategy.<\/p>\n

However, as you must know, Election Day is a long way away in political terms.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Should you persist in this manner, by November, Camp McCain should be able to establish not only that you are arguing semantics, but that in doing so, you are also grossly insulting US troops and the very heroic, grueling work they did in Anbar province in 2005-06.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

McCain will be able to say that while\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0he expects\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0that he will be bashed by the Obama campaign and its supporters, he\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0will not stand by to see\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0our brave men and women in the US military\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0be subjected\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0to the sort of bitter, divisive, partisan attacks and insults we had from the Far Left during the Vietnam era.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0The casual voter will probably credit the word of the former POW and long-time member of the Sen. Armed Services Committee over the rookie Senator Obama, the establishment media or the sort of snot-nosed Soros hack<\/a> who has himself photographed wearing \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cterrorist chic.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

In short, this current attempt to manufacture a McCain gaffe on this point will likely hand McCain a golden opportunity to paint Obama and his supporters as fitting the very worst stereotypes of the Far Left antiwar movement.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 It seems like this would be a major strategic blunder.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 But it is a free country; you can buy as much rope as you like.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong><\/em> Obama backer Gen. Wesley Clark<\/a> claims the surge did not work and gives credit\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0to Saudi Arabia and Iran.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 This not only insults US troops, but tends to suggest that the Saudis and Iranians\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0have been\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0meddling in Iraqi affairs — something the Left has tried to deny until now.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 This is what I mean about buying your own rope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Memorandum: To: The proggosphere, the Opinionated Press, New York Times, et al. Re: Attempting to claim John McCain is wrong about the counter-insurgency in Iraq At the risk of sounding rude, how dumb are you, anyway?\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Starting an argument with John McCain over the timeline of the counter-insurgency in Iraq, e.g., the relationship between the Anbar tribes turning against al Qaeda and the “surge,” attempting to paint this as some<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/636"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}