The Surge is Working

Back when I was a teenager, parts of San Diego, California were pretty scummy. It was a navy town, so there were a lot of sleaze merchants catering to sailors. And it was the 70s, so a lot of things were run down. This was a common problem all over in those days. New York City was bankrupt and crime was out of control. There were problems all over.

Many people thought that was the way it was going to be from now on. The nation was in a funk. The economy was bad. There was a kind of depression hanging over things, which some blamed on our capitulation in the Vietnam war.

But then, police in San Diego started doing something called “sweeps”, They would double and triple the police presence in troubled areas. They would roust anyone who looked like a drug dealer or troublemaker and lo and behold, things started changing for the better. Downtown used to be like something out of the Taxi Driver. The Gaslamp Quarter was like 42 street in New York. Nothing there but pimps, pushers and prostitutes (and their customers). Now the area is a fantastic tourist attraction with great restaurants, clubs and shops.

The same thing happened later in New York when Rudy Giuliani became mayor. He used a similar technique to the sweeps and things got radically better. Residents in trouble areas wanted a change. But individually they didn’t see how it would ever get better. Now, New York is one of the safest large cities in America.

I’ve said from the beginning we can win in Iraq if we don’t get too PC about it. After WWII they had the same kind of problems with an insurgency in Germany as Nazi hold overs committed acts of terror and sabotage against the coalition. In four years we shut them down by executing any one who was caught. The people of Germany were war weary, so they started to help the coalition find the terrorists. And the pece began to reign.

After a lot of false starts, it looks like the same tactics are helping end the conflicts in Iraq.

October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths and American commanders say they know why: the U.S. troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against al Qaeda and Shiite militia extremists. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch points to what the military calls ‘’Concerned Citizens’’ - both Shiites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he’s signed up 20,000 of them in the past four months.

One of the things that encouraged the enemy there was the mixed signals they got from the US media. If you read our press you’d think the US would be giving up any day because it sounded like our politicians and the people wanted us out of Iraq. But once they realized we weren’t giving up an even the Democrats admitted we would be there for years, Iraqis felt they could trust us to stay and the enemy realized they couldn’t sustain the fight.

Pulling out of Vietnam when we did was a major mistake. It could have been won. Hopefully, we will be vindicated in Iraq by staying to finish the job. It is a winnable situation. It will just take the right approach and an even hand.

There was definitely a lot of things that went wrong and a lot of waste and abuse. Wars tend to be messy. That’s why they should be a last resort. People needlessly die. Money gets stolen or wasted and cities get razed. But sometimes it has to happen. To secure the region and end the grip of Islamic extremists, it would take intervention. There are now few places they Islamists have national support. Basically Syria and Iran. Syria is a weak state propped up by Iran. If Iran falls, so does Syria. And then the radicals will be underground everywhere they are. The only question mark is Pakistan which looks unstable. We’ll have to watch that one.

It’s not a time to relax but where much closer to our goals than we were a couple years ago. It is possible to feel some optimism, but its too early to be sure.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, another anti-war fraud gets exposed. We had the same kind of BS happening during Vietnam. The same liars and fake GIs claiming atrocities by US troops. There should be serious consequences for people like that. They deserve a public flogging at the very least. 

“Pulling out of Vietnam when we did was a major mistake. It could have been won.”

History Proves Vietnam Victors Wrong, The Aftermath Of Saigon’s Fall Is Rarely Dealt With , and Saigon Travel Bureau
http://brocktownsend.forum5.com/viewtopic.php?t=853&mforum=brocktownsend

Posted by Brock Townsend  on  10/24  at  09:16 AM

Great articles. I recommend people read them.

What the Democrats did in 1975 was criminal. They should never get the chance to repeat their mistake in Iraq. It’s amazing how clueless people can be. And Chris Dodd is the same dufus he was in 1975.

Posted by  on  10/24  at  09:42 AM
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