Friday, October 30, 2009
How to lose a war: run it from Washington.
That’s how we lost Viet Nam. Remember Lyndon Johnson and his staff poring over maps of bombing targets?
From the beginning, there were many problems with the organization of Rolling Thunder, making success almost impossible. The targets were selected during Tuesday lunches at the White House in Washington. Attending the meetings were President Johnson and his civilian advisers and beginning in 1967, military representatives. These advisers chose the targets, tactics, timing, number of aircraft, and ordnance. Personnel in Vietnam could request targets, but by the time the request worked its way through Washington, the quick-moving Viet Cong would have left the area. This micromanagement from across the world by civilian personnel angered many. Curtis LeMay likened it to a hospital administrator performing brain surgery.
It’s a re-run and it’s being done by people who may be too young to remember Viet Nam and its disastrous management. Plus, they have an infinite amount of faith in the fact that they are the smartest people …. ever …. in the history of the world. Google “Obama smart” and you get 99,200,000 hits.
Some of their followers - like Sting - go much farther than that. He believes that Obama is "sent from God."
What could possibly go wrong?
Labels: Afghanistan, Obama, War
Besides there's the "leaked" story about Karzai's brother, and Obama's deciding to meet the bodies of those soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan. If he's trying to show us how much he cares, I would say too late Mr. President, if you would have sent help when you were asked two months ago, maybe they wouldn't be dead today. This is why dithering is not good.
: 9:53 AM : 8:20 PM << Home
