Posted by
On the Right on Friday, February 29, 2008 9:33:39 PM
Found this over at Hot Air;
Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Services, issued a warning
to the Democratic presidential hopefuls today. The kind of rapid
withdrawal from Iraq that Hillary Clinton has suggested and Barack
Obama has demanded would lead to chaos and a breakdown of the gains
achieved over the last year. He would carry out such an order, but
cautioned against it . . .
Mullen didn’t endorse an extension of the surge,
either. He needs to find 4,000 trainers for Afghanistan, which simply
aren’t available until some of the troops in Iraq get returned home.
However, he wants that to happen rationally, without risking a
breakdown in Iraq’s security that could force the US to ramp up again
in the future to retake the ground already held.
Mullen found himself an unlikely ally today, as Allahpundit noted earlier,
when Angelina Jolie talked about the change in Iraq’s reality since her
last visit. NGOs have started expanding operations, and American
soldiers want to see the mission through now that success has become
much more likely. This points out the problem with Barack Obama and the
rest of the Iraq war opponents: they insist on looking backwards at the
decision to invade Iraq rather than the reality of what we face now.
This got highlighted in the recent exchange between Obama and John
McCain. Obama said he wanted to pull our troops out of Iraq so they can
fight al-Qaeda. McCain pointed out that AQ exists in Iraq, to which
Obama replied that AQ wasn’t there five years ago. While that’s
factually untrue — Ansaar al-Islam existed there and had aligned
themselves with AQ — it’s also irrelevant. Al-Qaeda exists there now,
and withdrawing before stamping them out would be an invitation for
them to follow in our wake to re-establish themselves once again in
western Iraq.
One candidate wants to strategize with today’s reality in mind; the
other two want to base their policies on 2002’s geopolitical situation.
No wonder Admiral Mullen worries about chaos.
UPDATE: Commenter MB4 correctly notes that the JCOS does not have
operational command over military forces, thanks to a reorganization in
1986. However, Mullen did say this: “When a new president comes in, I
will get my orders and I will carry them out.” That was my frame of
reference for the opening paragraph. The JCOS is tasked with ensuring
force readiness, so perhaps that is what Mullen meant.