A Grudge Too Far
As you may have guessed, one of my main pleasures in blogging is trying to come up with creative headlines. Billmon cites a quote from Col. John Warden, one of the architects of the air campaign in the first Gulf War, talking before the invasion of Iraq last year:
The plan is probably one of the most risky in our history as it launches us off into terra incognita for the U.S.: our first preemptive or preventive war; our first attempt to democratize an Islamic state; and establishment of a very narrow beachhead in the midst of a billion undefeated Muslims.
Billmon uses the map above to show the physical reality: the coalition of the willing has intentionally gotten itself surrounded. Billmon compares it to Barbarossa, Hitler's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. I think another comparison might be the Allies unsuccessful Market Garden campaign in 1944, involving parachute drops far behind Nazi lines, which was documented in the book and movie "A Bridge Too Far," as well as in one segment of the Tom Hanks/HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers."
The "coalition" has managed to get itself surrounded for no good reason except for aWol's grudge against Saddam. Hence, "A Grudge Too Far."
(Sorry, I think I had something better to say, but I got interrupted and can't remember what it was! Be sure to read Billmon's post though.)
As you may have guessed, one of my main pleasures in blogging is trying to come up with creative headlines. Billmon cites a quote from Col. John Warden, one of the architects of the air campaign in the first Gulf War, talking before the invasion of Iraq last year:
The plan is probably one of the most risky in our history as it launches us off into terra incognita for the U.S.: our first preemptive or preventive war; our first attempt to democratize an Islamic state; and establishment of a very narrow beachhead in the midst of a billion undefeated Muslims.
Billmon uses the map above to show the physical reality: the coalition of the willing has intentionally gotten itself surrounded. Billmon compares it to Barbarossa, Hitler's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. I think another comparison might be the Allies unsuccessful Market Garden campaign in 1944, involving parachute drops far behind Nazi lines, which was documented in the book and movie "A Bridge Too Far," as well as in one segment of the Tom Hanks/HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers."
The "coalition" has managed to get itself surrounded for no good reason except for aWol's grudge against Saddam. Hence, "A Grudge Too Far."
(Sorry, I think I had something better to say, but I got interrupted and can't remember what it was! Be sure to read Billmon's post though.)
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