AI
| Followers | 212 |
| Posts | 319403 |
| Boards Moderated | 11 |
| Alias Born | 12/01/2002 |
Monday, September 10, 2007 6:15:27 PM
This lovely chart was a centerpiece of Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony this afternoon before the House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee. It purports to show the level of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq falling gradually over … some period of time. As withdrawal plans go, it not exactly encouraging.
That bottom line — which would, in this kind of graph, presumably indicate some measurement of time — is a little tough to read. It says, “Leading to Partnering to Overwatch (Tactical to Operational to Strategic).” And in case you have no idea what that means, that’s the general name for the strategy Petraeus outlined today for the foreseeable future.
That’s a perfectly nice name for a strategy, of course, but this chart, while colorful, doesn’t actually tell us anything, except the fact that U.S. troops will eventually be in Iraq in much smaller numbers. Whether that’s in nine months, nine years, or nine decades remains a complete mystery.
As Matt Yglesias (from whom I stole borrowed this graph) said, “Basically, the idea is that about nine months from now, we’ll be back to the number of troops we had in Iraq about nine months ago. After that, more stuff is supposed to change . . . maybe . . . sometime . . . if all goes well . . . maybe . . . at some point.”
Now, to be fair, I should note that the chart, if you look closely, is not completely devoid of dates. It notes that by next summer, Petraeus is prepared to bring the overall deployment down to pre-surge levels, effectively ending the escalation, if the conditions meet with his satisfaction. Except, that’s not particularly encouraging, given that we’ll be out of troops by that point.
I’ll have plenty more about today’s joint hearing tomorrow, but it’s also worth noting that Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who was supposed to have something of a moderating influence on today’s discussion, was surprisingly ineffective and unpersuasive.
That bottom line — which would, in this kind of graph, presumably indicate some measurement of time — is a little tough to read. It says, “Leading to Partnering to Overwatch (Tactical to Operational to Strategic).” And in case you have no idea what that means, that’s the general name for the strategy Petraeus outlined today for the foreseeable future.
That’s a perfectly nice name for a strategy, of course, but this chart, while colorful, doesn’t actually tell us anything, except the fact that U.S. troops will eventually be in Iraq in much smaller numbers. Whether that’s in nine months, nine years, or nine decades remains a complete mystery.
As Matt Yglesias (from whom I stole borrowed this graph) said, “Basically, the idea is that about nine months from now, we’ll be back to the number of troops we had in Iraq about nine months ago. After that, more stuff is supposed to change . . . maybe . . . sometime . . . if all goes well . . . maybe . . . at some point.”
Now, to be fair, I should note that the chart, if you look closely, is not completely devoid of dates. It notes that by next summer, Petraeus is prepared to bring the overall deployment down to pre-surge levels, effectively ending the escalation, if the conditions meet with his satisfaction. Except, that’s not particularly encouraging, given that we’ll be out of troops by that point.
I’ll have plenty more about today’s joint hearing tomorrow, but it’s also worth noting that Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who was supposed to have something of a moderating influence on today’s discussion, was surprisingly ineffective and unpersuasive.
#board-2412
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
Trade Smarter with Thousands
Leverage decades of market experience shared openly.
