Author: CalimeroCalimero
Date: Dec 31, 2007 21:27
Lessons From The Surge
A Commentary by Michael Barone
Saturday, December 29, 2007
"There are lessons to be learned from the dazzling success of the
surge strategy in Iraq.
Lesson one is that just about no mission is impossible for the United
States military. A year ago it was widely thought, not just by the new
Democratic leaders in Congress but also in many parts of the Pentagon,
that containing the violence in Iraq was impossible. Now we have seen
it done.
We have seen this before in American history. George Washington's
forces seemed on the brink of defeat many times in the agonizing years
before Yorktown. Abraham Lincoln's generals seemed so unsuccessful in
the Civil War that in August 1864 it was widely believed he would be
defeated for re-election. But finally Lincoln found the right
generals. Sherman took Atlanta and marched to the sea; Grant pressed
forward in Virginia.
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