Stick and Move

Surprise, surprise. Army Historian Cites Lack of Postwar Plan

“There was no Phase IV plan” for occupying Iraq after the combat phase, writes Maj. Isaiah Wilson III, who served as an official historian of the campaign and later as a war planner in Iraq. While a variety of government offices had considered the possible situations that would follow a U.S. victory, Wilson writes, no one produced an actual document laying out a strategy to consolidate the victory after major combat operations ended.

“While there may have been 'plans' at the national level, and even within various agencies within the war zone, none of these 'plans' operationalized the problem beyond regime collapse” -- that is, laid out how U.S. forces would be moved and structured, Wilson writes in an essay that has been delivered at several academic conferences but not published. “There was no adequate operational plan for stability operations and support operations.”

Having grown up in the midwest and playing football you learn a thing or two about offense and defense. In order to win you have to score with offense. It's rare to score a defensive touchdown and it almost never wins the game. So a relatively successful strategy is to get the ball within scoring range as fast and as often as possible. This is usually achieved through a passing game. Get your 'backs upfield and let the ball fly.

The training the 'backs receive is to 'stick and move.' in other words stop the forward momentum of the defensive players by hitting them hard enough to halt their progress but then side-step and continue up the field. The defensive player has to make a decision, do I hit back or do I continue down field to sack the Quarterback. In that split-second the offensive back jukes the play is either successful or it's busted. If the defense manages to stop the offensive 'backs and sack the QB it often results in a game changing moment. But the odds are usually in the favor of the offense.

Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld and the Neo-Cons all seem to adopt a 'stick and move' approach to political gamesmanship.

The 2000 and 2004 Rove-controlled elections were marked by GOP attacks that lasted for only a single news cycle. By the time the DNC responded the next attack was already being leveled. The same thing is true for GOP 'wins.' The White House would trot out Tom Ridge for a national security update. The next day John Asscroft would update the public on some court case. The next day Rummy would hold a conference saying how well things were going in Iraq. Stick and move. Don't give your opponent time to respond.

The Iraq invasion was swift and decisive because our troops didn't stop to regroup. Supply lines were stretched dangerously thin resulting in U.S. P.O.W.s. But our tank groups were ordered to rush into Baghdad. Before the invasion began Rumsfeld determined that speed and timing were of the essence. Declaring victory wasn't a reality as much as it was part of the strategy. The story on the 6pm news had to be the completely superior, overwhelming, U.S. capabilities were no match for the Iraqi army. Rummy even made sure that we had news cameras in all the forward groups. Rah rah sis boom bah. Stick and move.

Stick and move can also be used defensively. Bush originally claimed that Iraq was a threat to our national security and possessed weapons of mass destruction. Iraq had the bomb. Iraq could attack the U.S. in 45 minutes with remotely operated vehicles. Iraq had chemical and biological weapons that they wouldn't hesitate to use against soldiers or civillians. Colin Powell told the U.N. that a single vial of Anthrax could kill thousands and that Iraq had stockpiles of the disease. Unfortunately for the administration, the utter lack of discovery following the invasion and occupation of Iraq left Bush looking for excuses so he claimed that Iraq had WMD programs. After multiple U.N. Weapons Inspectors closed that door Bush followed up by claiming that Hussein had intentions of starting WMD programs. Even Bush recognized this was a non-starter so he turned the message into liberation of the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator that they despised. Of course this is also failing the sniff test and Bush is stuck. I can hardly wait to see Dubya's next move. This may be a game-changing moment for the Dems if they can get their act together.

Of course the whole Iraq invasion was just the first stop in the overall stick and move Wolfowitz strategy. True Neo-Con followers always knew that Iraq was just a stepping-stone to getting the Middle-East under control. After Iraq we'll move on to the next stop. Iran anyone?

So to read that there was never, ever, a postwar Iraq plan isn't surprising. After all, when you knock the defenseman on his ass, you move. You don't stop to help pick him up. You just move.