January 6, 2007,
Re: Pedal to the Metal, Sir. Foot off the Brake.
Dear Mr. President,
I know men don't like to be told how to drive. And they hate it when someone suggests they should ask for directions when they're lost, or off course.
Believe me, I've had my share of squabbles with men who were driving with me in the passenger seat. And I know I may be on shaky ground here.
Nevertheless, I want to talk to you about your driving, Mr. President.
I think you need a better grip on the steering wheel and perhaps take a little driving instruction for the road ahead in Iraq, to refresh your skills a bit and to better help our troops maximize their efforts in that war-torn country.
Just as the solution to money problems isn't always a matter of more money, so it is with many other issues we face in life, both individually and collectively as a country.
To wit, Victor Davis Hanson has some wise thoughts about your idea to send more troops into Iraq to quell the violence and change the outcome of this war back into the Iraqs' and our favor. And he has some tips to help your driving.
According to Hanson, a mere surge in troop numbers is not the only answer to the quagmire in Iraq. He thinks you need to pay attention to other things as well, so you won't crash in the months ahead, and fail to ever get to your destination.
Let's face it, we've made some wrong turns there, often seizing defeat from the jaws of victory. Now, we are facing a pivotal moment in this war and how the world perceives us in Iraq and the War on Terror.
Hanson has much to say about it and the way you and we should head towards our destination in Iraq.
Please listen to him and his driving instuctions. As an highly esteemed historian of many great battles from antiquity to the present---analyzing how and why wars were finally won or lost---Hanson has a perspective you cannot afford to ignore at this crucial moment in Iraq.
Hanson talks about getting us back on track in Iraq.
He often talks about our country's weakening moral resolve and how our enemies perceive this in the press and in our ambivalent policies. Well, now Hanson talks about what we need to do to increase our resolve. And the bottom line of what he has to say is this:
We simply can no longer put our pedal to the metal with our other foot stuck on the brake. Hanson writes:
"Our past errors were not so much dissolving a scattered Iraqi military or even de-Baathification, but rather giving an appearance of impotence, whether in allowing the looting to continue or pulling back from Fallujah or giving a reprieve to the Sadr militias.
"So, yes, send more troops to Iraq — but only if they are going to be allowed to hunt down and kill the vicious and sectarian in a manner that they have not been allowed to previously.
"This surge should not be viewed in terms of manpower alone. Rather it should be planned as the corrective to past misguided laxity, in which no quarter will now be given to die-hard jihadists as we pursue victory, not better policing. We owe that assurance to the thousands more of young Americans who now will be sent into harm’s way. "
In addition, Mr. Hanson has 8 suggestions that will insure success of a future troop surge which are vitally important for you to include in your soon-to-be announced plans for Iraq. You can link to his suggestions here.
This is important, Mr. President. So get a grip and go read Victor every chance you get. And keep reading him. Actually, why don't you invite him to the White House in the next few days for a fireside chat upstairs with both you and Laura?
And Godspeed on driving things back on track in Iraq.
And please remember, Mr. President, in the weeks and months ahead, pedal to the metal, foot off the brake. Oh, and whatever you do, don't let Nancy drive.
Sincerely yours,
Webutante
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