Gingrich, never one to speak in generalities, stated explicitly why he believes the execution of the Iraq War has been a failure from the beginning and will continue to fail unless this administration adopts one of the originally proposed strategies:
But Captain Travis Patriquin. P-A-T-R-I-Q-U-I-N. He did a stick figure briefing on how to win in Al Anbar and it will break your heart. Because he said, ‘Look, there are sheiks in Al Anbar who’ve been the local power structure for 1300 years and they know how to run the place. They know how to track down the, the, the bad guys. They know what to do. And a bunch of 26-year-olds come in with Bremer and write a law that said, “The sheiks are irrelevant. We now represent modernity.” And we’ve now spent three years not knowing what we’re doing, not knowing who the bad guys are, not knowing who the good guys are. And you, and you see this stick figure presentation by this young Marine who was killed just a few weeks ago and it makes you want to cry because we, starting in June of ‘03, violated virtually every principal I know about how to be effective in this kind of country.
Gingrich made it abundantly clear that military commanders and civilian appointees, including General Abizaid and especially L. Paul Bremer, ultimately chose not to work with the local sheiks to root out the extremists and “insurgents” in Iraq. Instead the administration and its military leaders chose to impose a distinctly American regime-change operation.
The tragic (although this situation can still be remedied) consequence of that decision was that while the poor Iraqi citizens who were overjoyed to see Sadaam Hussein toppled were not joined in celebration by the more wealthy sheiks who found themselves tribally emasculated and replaced by a foreign military presence. As well-meaning as our military presence may have been and continues to be, to the sheiks it was viewed as an affront to their long-held power and ability to control radical elements of all sects within their local regions. Instead of utilizing these sheiks, the administration’s strategy marginalized them and no one should be surprised that the sheiks have offered only marginal assistance in identifying, tracking, or capturing terrorists ensconced in regions the sheiks previously controlled.
Unfortunately, now that Democrats have won the majority in the House and Senate, there is no talk of a move toward inclusion of the sheiks. The only strategy under consideration is to see which Senator or Congressman can set the earliest withdrawal date so he/she can take credit for bringing the troops home.
Newt Gingrich Paul Bremer Meet The Press War On Terror Iraq War
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