April 2013

Lowy Institute: More on the avoidable Iraq insurgency

After the column that Michael wrote last month, a piece ran by someone who disagreed with some of his points. (The links to both are below.) Today a response from Michael was posted:

More on the avoidable Iraq insurgency
By Michael Ware - 9 April 2013 12:48PM
This post is part of a debate - click here to see how this debate started and developed.
Michael Ware was a war correspondent for TIME Magazine and CNN. He spent six years in Iraq.

image.axd

fantasy – (noun) the faculty or activity of imagining things, esp things that are impossible or improbable.

A few of Kipling's words keep peeling like church bells in my head as I finally sit and ponder Derek Woolner's response to my Iraq war tenth anniversary piece:

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools 

Please understand I don't mean disrespect to Woolner. But his perspective on the insurgency is heinously flawed and, much like America's war leaders were, perversely dismissive of reports from the ground.

Read more on the site