Tuesday, September 11, 2007

UNT professor poo-poos Petraeus plan

Alliteration: gotta love it.

By John P. Meyer

As General David Petraeus and ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker continue to testify before Congress, at least one local professor of military history is less than impressed.

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro holds (by sitting in it, one supposes) the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Chair in Military History at the University of North Texas, and also directs the Military History Center. This guy knows military, I'm just sayin', and he doesn't think much of Gen. Petraeus' long-anticipated statements concerning the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. He goes so far as to say that Gen. P. and George W. B. are "trying to mollify Congress by saying we will begin a phased withdrawal," when in fact "We're really getting nothing out of this. We're essentially undoing the surge but ... leaving 130,000 troops in place. People who think we are in a quagmire are not going to be heartened by this." Amen to that, Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Chair in Military History Geoff.

Dr. Wawro goes on to accuse the Bush administration of failing to address candidly the problems in Iraq, and wants to hear someone from that august body explain what we're achieving by leaving American forces there indefinitely, subject to further death and injury.

"We are not seeing anything that will solve the problem. We're holding an increasingly artificial nation together with chewing gum, tape and bailing wire - and putting precious American lives at risk every day."

Chewing gum: $.50 (x130,000)

Tape: $.99 (x130,000)

Bailing wire: $10/100 feet (x130,000)

Getting all U.S. troops out of Iraq without further delay: dream on, fool.

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