Must Read:Tom Barnett on "The Pentagon's Debate Over What Iraq Means"

Go to The Command Post - Op-Ed - EXCLUSIVE: Tom Barnett on "The Pentagon's Debate Over What Iraq Means".

An earlier post on Dr. Barnett here.

Just to toss my voice into the debate, I read "who lost the war" as set out in the column as not meaning that the Pentagon is conceding defeat by the "insurgents" but rather that victory was not so immediate as in other recent U.S. efforts. Sort of like some people in Washington perceive a reduction in the amount of increase in the funding they were expecting as being a "cut in spending."

I should also point out that our intelligence prior to going in was pretty damn awful- which in turn caused some assumptions to be a little overly optimistic. For example, if it is true that the Iraqis were moving WMD and other materials to Syria as has been alleged, why didn't we know that? Why did we expect to be greeted with "flowers?"

Not that it matters much now, as we are where we are.

And for excellent posts on where that is, as we countdown to the election in Iaq, visit Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette for his superb reports.