Charles Sheehan-Miles

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Another interesting bit from SWJ

Beyond a doubt our current administration has lost credibility with the American people (in both red and blue states) based on its inept management of the war. First there were no WMD, then the premature claim to victory, then denial that there was an insurgency, then there was no civil war, not to mention not having a plan for phase IV, and the list goes on. The point is that even if we are now making progress, America's will is eroded, not so much by the enemy, but by our own executive branch.

If there is a lesson in this that we obviously failed to learn in Vietnam, it is that we must be completely honest with the American people. They haven't lost patience, they lost faith. I think the President needs to replace several key leaders (the SECDEF was a good start, but not enough), and the new leaders in the administration must be allowed to maintain their credibility so the American people will give them the manuever space needed to get us on the right track.

The first report on stability measures coming out with Mr. Gates in charge of DoD needs to be brutally honest, and it should caveat where the report may be "unintentionally" misleading. We have two key fights now, one in Iraq, and second winning back the faith of the American people. Beyond a doubt our current administration has lost credibility with the American people (in both red and blue states) based on its inept management of the war. First there were no WMD, then the premature claim to victory, then denial that there was an insurgency, then there was no civil war, not to mention not having a plan for phase IV, and the list goes on. The point is that even if we are now making progress, America's will is eroded, not so much by the enemy, but by our own executive branch.

This was posted in this discussion of recent reports from the Pentagon.

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