The news
that former army officers from the Ba’athist Party have joined ISIS is no surprise
Exiled out
service upon Hussein’s defeat and ultimate demise
Paul Bremer
on Bush’s watch sowed the seeds of complete disaster
In the 14
months of his role as Iraq’s civilian master
Disbanding
the army, de Ba’athfication of the civil service and police, leaving a vacuum
we could not avoid
And like the
high tide that follows the low, militants surged into the void
Most victors
selectively use the best and brightest of their past foe to a nation repair
Look at the Red
Army taking in 50,000 Tsarist officers instead of scattering them into thin air
Look to the
officers of the Wehrmacht continuing in the Bundeswehr rising to general and
admiral rank
Strip an
army or air force of its officers and those armed forces are thrown into the tank
We are now
reaping the American withdrawal to a sofa recline
Instead of
having a SOFA for our presence to be better defined
The recruitment
of former officers may the success of ISIS explain
But still as
long as they are moving in a convoy they are exposed to strikes from drones and
planes
If they continue
to slaughter and pile the roads with surrendered Iraqi dead
With some
air support and Maliki either gone or to absolute power no longer wed
We might
have a chance to this Caliphate menace stall
But we need
a CinC and an Iraqi Army with a better set of brass balls
© June
23, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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