Iraq war
Mahmood Elahi, Iris Street, Ottawa, Canada
In a strange way, Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq has a historical parallel with Hitler's war in the Soviet Union. It may be recalled that when Hitler launched his invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he and his generals promised a quick victory. The invasion was launched with three million men and more than 30,000 tanks. It was the biggest invasion the world had ever seen. Hitler's idea was to encircle the Soviet forces on three sides and wipe them out. He declared the Soviet Union was a corrupt and weak state and "give it a hard kick and it will fall apart."The Soviet forces were overwhelmed by the German blitz. But after initial setbacks, the Russians regrouped and put up a fierce resistance. In the territories occupied by the Germans, they put up a stubborn resistance, attacking German lines from behind and finally at Stalingrad, the Germans were forced to stop. The German forces, cut off from all reinforcements, asked for Hitler's permission to make a strategic withdrawal. But Hitler's response was that nothing short of victory was acceptable. The German forces continued to fight on, but ultimately, were simply overpowered by the Soviet offensive and lack of reinforcement. The German defeat at Stalingrad was a turning point in the World War II and instead of total victory, Hitler faced eventual total defeat. Although Bush doesn't face such a formidable foe in Iraq, his insistence on "victory" has uncanny resemblance with Hitler's insistence on victory at Stalingrad. In Iraq, the American forces face a hostile local population. Once-dominant Sunni minority hate the Americans for ousting them from power, now-dominant Shiite majority, especially the followers of radical Shiite cleric Moktada Al Sadr, are hostile because they suspect the Americans are trying to install a Shiite puppet government and neighbouring Iran is using the anti-American insurgency to bleed the Americans. The Americans are caught in a three-pronged war against the Sunni insurgents, the Shiite militias and al-Qaeda followers who have joined the war against the Americans. In this way, the American forces in Iraq may be facing an intractable situation similar to the one the Germans faced at Stalingrad. Moreover, given the opposition to the war in the US (as a dictator, albeit an elected one, Hitler didn't have to worry about public support), Bush's hands are tied. After the failure of the "surge," he cannot hope to increase the number of troops in Iraq and without draft, his capacity to augment troops numbers is limited at best. The Americans will eventually withdraw from Iraq. The only question remains whether they can withdraw without facing further catastrophe. Despite his bravado, Bush is a deeply worried man. He is just whistling past the graveyard in a dark night.
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