Read and be dismayed.

[Zenister 0]

http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Occasional_Papers/OP5.pdf


This speaks for itself.

'They' were told all of this would happen.

'They' did not listen because it did not fit their political preconceptions.

We will pay the price for their arrogance and incompetence for a long while to come.

"Sir, reality didn't match up with your template" - young NCO to his CO when asked how 'we got to this point'.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[labrys 0]

There isn't a lot of substance there

Owned by Remi #?

[Zenister 0]

now I'm just going to laugh at you for your clear ignorance.

perhaps you should pay particular notice to the footnotes and then to who the author is...

there is more substance there than in any report released to the public to date.

but go ahead and bury your head in the sand, exactly the way our current leadership did with America's future.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[nerdgirl 0]

  Quote

There isn't a lot of substance there

Would you expand on your criticisms?

I haven't had a chance to read the NDU Occasional Paper yet, so am interested in what you see as problematic in Collins' analysis? Is it just recycyling of other documents and findings or something else? Thanks.

VR/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[NewGuy2005 53]

  Quote

  Quote

There isn't a lot of substance there

Would you expand on your criticisms?

I haven't had a chance to read the NDU Occasional Paper yet, so am interested in what you see as problematic in Collins' analysis? Is it just recycyling of other documents and findings or something else? Thanks.

VR/Marg

Or do you just reject the source, outright??

[kallend 2,121]

  Quote

There isn't a lot of substance there

No, nothing of substance:

Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle. As of fall 2007, this conflict has cost the United States over 3,800 dead and over
28,000 wounded. Allied casualties accounted for another 300 dead. Iraqi civilian deaths—mostly at the hands of other Iraqis—may number as high
as 82,000. Over 7,500 Iraqi soldiers and police officers have also been killed. Fifteen percent of the Iraqi population has become refugees or
displaced persons. The Congressional Research Service estimates that the United States now spends over $10 billion per month on the war, and that
the total, direct U.S. costs from March 2003 to July 2007 have exceeded $450 billion, all of which has been covered by deficit spending.1 No one
as yet has calculated the costs of long-term veterans’ benefits or the total impact on Service personnel and materiel.

The war’s political impact also has been great. Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen.2 Our status as a moral leader has been
damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees. At the same time,
operations in Iraq have had a negative impact on all other efforts in the war on terror, which must bow to the priority of Iraq when it comes to manpower,
materiel, and the attention of decisionmakers. Our Armed Forces— especially the Army and Marine Corps—have been severely strained by
the war in Iraq. Compounding all of these problems, our efforts there were designed to enhance U.S. national security, but they have become, at
least temporarily, an incubator for terrorism and have emboldened Iran to expand its influence throughout the Middle East.


and an uninformed author:

About the Author
Dr. Joseph J. Collins has been Professor of National Security Strategy
at the National War College since 2004. Prior to this assignment, he
served for 3 years as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability
Operations. From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Collins was a Senior Fellow at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he researched
economic sanctions, national security policy, and homeland security. In
1998, after nearly 28 years of military service, Dr. Collins retired from the
U.S. Army as a colonel. His many publications include books and articles
on war in Afghanistan, Operation Desert Storm, military culture, defense
transformation, homeland defense, and the way ahead in Iraq.
Dr. Collins holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and
two master’s degrees and a doctorate in political science from Columbia
University. In 2004, he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal
for Distinguished Public Service, its highest civilian award.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[NewGuy2005 53]

  Quote

  Quote

  Quote

There isn't a lot of substance there

Would you expand on your criticisms?

I haven't had a chance to read the NDU Occasional Paper yet, so am interested in what you see as problematic in Collins' analysis? Is it just recycyling of other documents and findings or something else? Thanks.

VR/Marg

Or do you just reject the source, outright??

Clarification: I was directing my question at Labrys, not Nerdgirl.
.
.

[Gene03 0]

John,
Do you remember full bird colonel Donald Humphery?

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)