Fog Of War - A

Fog Of War - A new army, raised to fight against troops loyal to a bloody dictator, faced its first test against the fanatical, battle-hardened troops loyal to their enemy.

And they dissolved and ran away, almost without a fight. They just didn't have what it took to face their opponent, who fought with methods they'd never been trained to deal with.

Who are we talking about?

The US Army, in the Battle of Kasserine Pass, in North Africa in 1942.

The left has been grinning like a toddler who just made a big pants over this story - in which 300 members of the new Iraqi Army's first operational combat battalion quit, citing low pay.

Juan Cole - a lefty blogger I've never encountered before, and after this taste of his work will certainly never seek out again - says:

. But surely a further motive is their increasing suspicion that the same guerrillas who have wounded 10,000 US troops and killed hundreds will put them through the meat grinder as soon as they are deployed.

"Surely" it is? Hm. Cites, please?

According to NPR, the money (which is about 1/5 of what it takes to support a family in Iraq today) is the main problem, along with the inevitable problems of making troops who are used to operating under a Soviet-style system operate under the Western system of operations, are the problem.

Cole is also disingenuous in citing "10,000 wounded"; that count includes ALL injuries suffered in the war so far, and is 20 times the number of coalition fatalities; through the entire 20th century, military dead tended to outnumber the wounded by more like 5-1. This is a major victory in its own right - not that I'd expect the typical leftyblogger to have the faintest idea...

UPDATE: Cole is worse than that, according to Sullivan:

"My wife, Shahin Cole, suggested to me an ironic possibility with regard to the Shiites. She said that many Shiites in East Baghdad, Basra, and elsewhere may have been timid about opposing the US presence, because they feared the return of Saddam. Saddam was in their nightmares, and the reprisals of the Fedayee Saddam are still a factor in Iraqi politics. Now that it is perfectly clear that he is finished, she suggested, the Shiites may be emboldened. Those who dislike US policies or who are opposed to the idea of occupation no longer need be apprehensive that the US will suddenly leave and allow Saddam to come back to power. They may therefore now gradually throw off their political timidity, and come out more forcefully into the streets when they disagree with the US. As with many of her insights, this one seems to me likely correct."

Of course, in Cole's world, the only way that "emboldenment" can take place will be through violent resistance to the US.

Posted by Mitch at December 15, 2003 07:03 AM