Ok, I know I’m going to catch hell from both sides for this, but...........

The current conflict in Iraq has evoked a conflict in my own mind. We’re going to prevail, but now the cost will be more than expected.

On the one hand, I know Hussein has to go, he is a threat to his own people, the region, and the world. He truly believes it is his destiny to be Emperor of the Mid-East, and is willing to kill every single person in the area to achieve that goal. With any means he can get his bloody hands on. He has slaughtered over a million people by the best guess anyone has, the actual number will most likely never be known. He has actively sought weapons so horrible that even the worst of nations forgo their use. The actions of his minions proves beyond a doubt he has inspired the worst in some, and oddly the best in others. Even knowing their fate some have stood up and spoken out, almost all paying a price beyond imagination, not only their own lives slowly ripped away, their families have been executed.

On the other hand..... I know what war can be, in spite of our best efforts innocent people are caught in the middle. Directly killing them through mistaken targeting, lack of food water and basic medical care. The opposition has no compunction about using civilians as shields or cover. This makes the task much more difficult. Already the rules of engagement have begun to shift slightly, if a vehicle does not stop, or turn around at a checkpoint, immediate fire is authorized. Soon, since the enemy looks the same as the civilians, the soldier in the field will have excruciating decisions to make on a split second basis. And some will make an error, and have to live with that error for the rest of their lives.

I have come to the conclusion that a serious mistake was made in the Battle Planning. Underestimating the opposition and overestimating the reaction of the internal ressitance to Hussien. With the lack of support 13 years ago from us for a popular uprising within Iraq, the population is suspicious. They still are uncertain as to how committed we are, we know, they do not. There are signs they are beginning to come around, but it is too little too late.

It has been the Powell Doctrine that has made our Armed forces so good the last few years. Overwhelming force, applied rapidly with precise and devastating accuracy. Lowering collateral damage and shocking the enemy. Somehow this seems to have been lost this time, while there have been fantastic gains on the ground, it appears there are gaps. All campaigns of this sort have gaps, the very act of engagement with the enemy does that. No O-Plan survives contact with the enemy. But in my opinion there are many this time that could have been foreseen.

When this started I knew the constant barrage of “We’ll be in Baghdad in a week.” was bogus. Just getting there with enough serious heavy equipment was going to take longer than that. Now the Republican Guard has dug in deep, and it is going to take a fierce battle to dig them out. Then they will retreat into Baghdad itself, there is where the really nasty fighting starts.

I watch CNN and MSNBC, local news, roam the Net, and talk to some who are there VIA email. And I wonder, how long, how many lives, how much of Iraq, Brittan and America will it take? Those soldiers who are there are hearing stories about life under Hussien, and it has stiffened their resolve to finish this.

I hope it is quicker than I think it might be.