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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! February 14, 2009 Strategic Marketing Error?By GreyhawkWhat Daily Show viewers learned about the surge, strategy, and COIN: Stewart: What they came up with was a plan that almost seems brilliant in its simplicity: "Let's not torture them anymore. Why don't we treat them with a modicum of some decency and see what that does. And give them money and see what that does." And it seems to have paid dividends. Ricks: I was sitting in Petraeus' office one day in Iraq and I said essentially that. And he began singing Aretha Franklin, r-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to the Iraqis. - end excerpt - So, we used to torture them, and we switched to paying them money instead, and that worked. Okay, good for a chuckle from the audience, but post-chuckles there was a brief opportunity for a 30-second explanation of COIN 101 and what the surge was all about (then quickly back to the funny) but it was missed. Instead we got 30 seconds of assurances that all that was done without Bush knowing about it. I know - comedy show, mass audience, looking for laughs. But I still think 'missed opportunity'. There are intelligent people who watch the Daily Show, and if you're going to promote your (presumably) intelligent book there it seems it would pay to pique their interest rather than play to their preconceived notions and prejudices. After the chuckling a simple "well John, there's much more to it than that - in fact it's a pretty amazing story, that's why I wrote it" might have been all it took - but that assurance never came. I haven't read Ricks' book yet, but if it could be summed up as "we used to torture them then we started giving them money instead but we had to do it behind Bush's back" then I don't need to - it's wrong and stupid and insulting to those of us who executed the surge. I don't think that description fits Ricks' book. At least, I didn't before I saw this. Posted by Greyhawk / February 14, 2009 11:42 AM | Permalink 6 Comments |
March 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 03/19/2003 [Greyhawk]
"Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world." Mudville was founded in March, 2003. Our efforts to bring the thoughts, words, and deeds of milbloggers to a wider world evolved to become The Dawn Patrol in March, 2005. With today's entry we're going to reset the clock - but not re-write the history - and recreate the world as it was - on a day the world changed...
Updating... more to follow.... MILBOGSAndrew Olmsted, 19 Mar 2003, Stateside: It would appear that the liberation of Iraq has begun. Greyhawk, 18 Mar 2003, Germany: A united world could have, just maybe, brought down Saddam without firing a shot. We will never know. 19 Mar: We'll never know what a united world could have achieved... the UN could not agree on anything, the situation degenerated, and here we are. Status quo was not working. The French were too desperate for oil and trade at any cost. Well-intentioned Americans were led into the streets by Communists (and others) with an agenda. The media distorted the split. Many in America and abroad thought they could manipulate the situation to their personal gain. They miscalculated. The fire is lit. Pontifx ex Machina, 18 Mar, undisclosed location: Rolling out the gate, the guard gets a quick "hook-em, horns" sign as we weave through the barricades. Then we're off, cruising through the desert in a battered-up SUV. On the eve of war, only one thing passes through our minds: is there going to be any appropriate music on the radio? Lt Smash, 19 Mar, undisclosed location: Read the President's speech today. The clock is ticking. Chief Wiggles, 22 Mar, Kuwait: The war started Wednesday morning for us right after the president gave a speech to the American people that lasted about 4 minutes. We were all very anxious for this whole thing to be either over or get it on its way. Will, 22 Mar, en route: I am going to Baghdad to personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch! Lt Smash 20 Mar, undisclosed location: Sgt Stryker, 20 Mar, Stateside: Iraq to File U.N. Complaint About Attack Primary Main Objective, 30 Mar, undisclosed location I Dare Kofi to Come Get Me.
BruceR, Flit, 19 Mar, Canada: AND SO IT BEGINS. Godspeed, Yanks. Come home safe and soon. Andrew Olmsted, 20 Mar 2003, Stateside: The most important thing to remember over the next few days is this: the first reports are almost always inaccurate. First reports are generally submitted in the heat of battle before any real analysis can take place. Therefore, they're highly subjective, based on limited information, and rarely hit the mark. So as the first reports of 'surgical strikes' on Iraqi forces come in, it's best to take those reports with a grain of salt... Iraqi BlogsSalam Pax, Baghdad: The bombing aould come and go in waves, nothing too heavy and not yet comparable to what was going on in 91. all radio and TV stations are still on and while the air raid began the Iraqi TV was showing patriotic songs and didn't even bother to inform viewers that we are under attack. at the moment they are re-airing yesterday's interview with the minister of interior affairs. THe sounds of the anti-aircarft artillery is still louder than the booms and bangs which means that they are still far from where we live, but the images we saw on Al Arabia news channel showed a building burning near one of my aunts house... American BlogsGlenn Reynolds has a ton of links. Newpapers
Updating... more to follow.... |
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2009 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  |
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I'm very glad that Stewart would have this guy on and treat him with respect. But I had to wonder about some of his reactions: whether he believed what he was saying or if he was just going for a cheap laugh (I realize that is what he does for a living). He seemed surprised that American soldiers read serious books. My sense from reading things by and about our present crop of soldiers is that they are more educated and literate than the average citizen. He was surprised that Petraeus sings R&B music. But I was most surprised someone as knowledgeable as Stewart was surprised that George Bush is results oriented. It seems that Stewart is so dedicated to his ugly and unrealistic prejudice that he apparently is constitutionally incapable of looking at Bush with anything approaching objectivity. He is incapable of anything but hate and cheap, formulaic humor.
I saw this, and was disappointed in Ricks. He was pandering to the hardcore Jon Stewart (aka Leibowitz) crowd. Especially resented the quip about all those military officers who run around asking for his autograph on their personal copies of "Fiasco". Oh yeah, everyone thought it was a total disaster over there, and agreed with everything I wrote! Right. We can't discuss Bush, Iraq or military themes without the knowing, sardonic smirk of disgust, can we.
Not that I think it might not be at least partially true. One of the most disgusting aspects of this new warrior/COIN/scholar breed is the inclination to pander to the eastern academic and media lefty mindset, the perceived "intelligent" end of the spectrum. "Sure, I'm in uniform, but i'm really not one of 'them'."
Oh well, a flawed hero is still a hero.
FWIW: I did see one copy of "Fiasco" while I was in Iraq, and it was in the possession of an Army Officer. I didn't mention it, didn't ask him about it, and forgot about it, though I was very inclined to ask I was otherwise engaged at the time and never followed up.
My own reading in Iraq - when I had time to read for pleasure (and I did) tended to be more escapist in nature.
Okay - a bit off topic here, but I just walked over and scanned my shelf of military-related books because I remembered reading at least one in Baghdad but I couldn't recall which.
It was 'Thieves of Baghdad' by Col Matthew Bogdanos, and it told the story of the "looting" of the Baghdad museum in the early days of the war. That story is a great example of the horrible job the media did of covering the war in the early days (Jessica Lynch is another) - setting a standard of incompetence that they subsequently never tired of exceeding.
Great.
This is why I consider it an insult when people ask me if I watch the Daily Show.
I caught an interview of some guy hawking his new book on the (I believe) Bill Bennett morning show the other day. He explained the surge to Bill Bennett in the same way he explained it to John Stewart. Saying that the surge was really just about paying off the enemy to stop killing us. And he also stated that we didn't solve anything, because the political aspect has not been solved, despite the lack of violence and that most military leaders in Iraq are frustrated with the Iraqis and that we're probably going to be in Iraq with at least 35,000 troops until after Obama's 8 years are done.
After hearing that and no tribute given to the troops or President Bush and GEN Petraeus, I turned the station without bothering to hear the book title or the guy saying everything.
After reading this post, I have no doubt it was this same guy.