On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 22:47:06 +0100, "Paul J. Adam"
wrote:

In semi-modern parlance, US domestic opinion was a centre of gravity,
and keeping public opinion on-side was a key enabling factor that North
Vietnam successfully attacked.

Or, flipping it around, if the "fight" crowd in the US had made a better
case for "why we fight" then things might have been very different.

If there is a parallel between Vietnam and Iraq this is it. In both
instances the "pundits" and a substantial portion of the "taste
makers" were able to woo the minions of the Fourth Estate and convince
them, and then many others, that military success was "impossible."
That was a Big Lie, but like many Big Lies, succeeded because it was
so big (a perverse application of the "too big to fail" theory?).

This is one reason I get very, very angry with anyone who dismisses "the
media". They may be ill-informed (and many are), they may be downright
hostile (and many are), but they have to be worked with and dealt with.
Ignore them or annoy them and they will hurt you badly.

It might have been Mark Twain who said, "Never pick a fight with
somebody who buys printer's ink by the barrel."

And when they _are_ properly handled, they can become ambassadors:
embedded journalists, having to live alongside the troops, tend to
become evangelists for "where do we get these men?".

True.

But you've got to get to the editorial and opinion writers, too.

Hence, the hard work required of a J3 Media Ops staffer.

Where has any official policy been annunciated at any time which
indicated an intent to establish "Permanent bases in Iraq"?

The withdrawal of MND(SE) forces from al-Muthanna province and the
handover there to Iraqi security is a small point of support. (Small,
because al-Muthanna is large, empty and quiet and hence suitable for an
early handover - though a cynic would say that's exactly the sort of
place the Evil US would _want_ a huge military complex put, and I'm not
aware of any such being constructed)

You crawl before you walk; you walk before you run; you run before you
fly. ;-)

As for "80% of who(m) wish we would leave"--I've not seen any polling
data of Iraqi's that would offer those numbers.

They're valid if you include responses like "should leave once the
security situation is stabilised" and other such conditional responses.
Indeed, very few Iraqis indeed want Coalition Forces to remain
indefinitely.

Give me some time and money and I'll produce a poll that says the the
Urth is flat, hollow, and the center of the universe.

The Iraqis really do want us to leave... but many of them don't want us
to leave _now_, they'd like us to leave "as soon as practical", with a
big spread on what "practical" means.

Indeed.

Bill Kambic
Haras Lucero, Kingston, TN
Mangalarga Marchador: Uma Raça, Uma Paixão