The Price Of Being Correct
On this, the anniversary of the start of the first Gulf War, Pierre Tristam notes Peter Arnett’s Prophesies. It took Arnett less than two weeks to figure Bush’s War was off the rails and the Iraqis weren’t going to play by the expected rules.
Except…the Iraqis did exactly what should have been expected with a senior officer corps trained in Soviet doctrine. Apparently all of the “Cold Warriors” forgot about the basic strategy of the Russian/Soviet military since it proved so successful against Napoleon and the Wehrmacht: when the homeland is invaded by a superior force, draw them into the country to extend supply lines and then fight a war of attrition. When the Iraqi army refused to give battle in large unit engagements, it should have been obvious that this was going to be an extended guerrilla war. Napoleon didn’t win when he seized Moscow, and the Germans didn’t win when they lay siege to Stalingrad. They were stretched too thin and couldn’t control the land they had taken.
Of course Arnett had to be fired. You can’t have people running around speaking truth when the “Leader” doesn’t want to hear it.
