Best of OTB – May 27, 2003

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Best of OTB – May 27, 2003

James Joyner | Sunday, May 27, 2007

RUMMY’S PLAN FOR IRAQ praises an op-ed by the former SECDEF outlining the way ahead in Iraq. Obviously, the plan didn’t work. Interestingly, though, reading it reminds me that, contrary to current wisdom, Rumsfeld not only didn’t promise fast results but he fully understood the basic principles of counter-insurgency. The principles outlined here come right out of Dave Petraeus’ much-vaunted playbook. Score one for John Robb: It didn’t work, not because the people in charge were incompetents (although there was some of that) but because Iraq ain’t your daddy’s insurgency.

GREEN PARTY SANITY? makes fun of an announcement by the Greens that they might endorse the Democratic nominee rather than pull a Nader again. That ultimately didn’t happen, although the Green Party ticket was a non-factor. Nader ran on his own and came in third again. We were spared controversy, though, because his 411,304 votes added to Kerry’s would have still meant a comfortable margin for Bush’s re-election. Nader was a non-factor in Ohio, too.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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More to the point re: Rummy, how much of that did we actually attempt? with what resources?

I would want some demonstration that the op-ed was reflective of what we actually did on the ground, rather than being just spin. There were any number of people who knew what we *should* be doing. We just didn't actually do it.

Posted by Anderson | May 28, 2007 | 05:25 pm | Permalink

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