What takes away from this documentary is the pressure on PBS to makes sure that the show two sides to every story, even when the story has only one side. This war was bought and paid for by the Bush Administration, yet PBS implies that Obama has to own it because inherited the quagmire when he assumed the presidency in 2009. The truth isn't liberal or conservative, yet Republicans insisted that NPR and PBS reflect views from the center and far right. This meant if one commentator said something vaguely liberal, it had to be book-ended by some kook just to the right of Agosto Pinochet. so a moderate opinion would be countered but some douche from National Review.
I'm re-watching the PBS Frontline "Losing Iraq" from 2014. It makes me sick to listen to all of the generals spewing out their thoughts and theories of their failed war that none of them opposed. None of them are capable of accepting the fact that many problems can't be solved militarily. Iraq was certainly not amenable to a solution based on violence, unless it was forced upon them by a brutal dictator, like, I don't know, someone like Saddam Hussein.
It's disgusting how the generals bad-mouthed Obama when he came into office because he wanted no part of the war. It was their collective incompetence that the war had been an absolute complete failure, and now they wanted Obama to listen to them?
There was no way to fix Iraq at this point, something any sane human being should have known and been able to see. The physical damage to the nation's infrastructure and private housing was going to plague Iraq for at least another decade, something the generals couldn't bother themselves thinking about before they blew it all up.
The militarists wanted to keep 24,000 troops in Iraq. What part of "the war is over" didn't they understand? Of course, they wanted lots of troops to stay behind, even though they had no plan, even though every plan they had before failed miserably. Their job is to command troops. Why wouldn't they demand more soldiers remain?
Blaming Obama for the consequences in Iraq is totally "the dog ate my homework" bullcrap you would expect from conservatives. Four years after Obama and no one could give a shot about Iraq. When was the last time you even heard about that hell hole? Trump has never mentioned it. Why? Because he didn't inherit a steaming pile of poop like Bush passed on in 2009. ISIS? Who are they? They killed each other off with little help from our military, and without U.S. troops being sacrificed.
I think Obama looks really good in hindsight.
I'm re-watching the PBS Frontline "Losing Iraq" from 2014. It makes me sick to listen to all of the generals spewing out their thoughts and theories of their failed war that none of them opposed. None of them are capable of accepting the fact that many problems can't be solved militarily. Iraq was certainly not amenable to a solution based on violence, unless it was forced upon them by a brutal dictator, like, I don't know, someone like Saddam Hussein.
It's disgusting how the generals bad-mouthed Obama when he came into office because he wanted no part of the war. It was their collective incompetence that the war had been an absolute complete failure, and now they wanted Obama to listen to them?
There was no way to fix Iraq at this point, something any sane human being should have known and been able to see. The physical damage to the nation's infrastructure and private housing was going to plague Iraq for at least another decade, something the generals couldn't bother themselves thinking about before they blew it all up.
The militarists wanted to keep 24,000 troops in Iraq. What part of "the war is over" didn't they understand? Of course, they wanted lots of troops to stay behind, even though they had no plan, even though every plan they had before failed miserably. Their job is to command troops. Why wouldn't they demand more soldiers remain?
Blaming Obama for the consequences in Iraq is totally "the dog ate my homework" bullcrap you would expect from conservatives. Four years after Obama and no one could give a shot about Iraq. When was the last time you even heard about that hell hole? Trump has never mentioned it. Why? Because he didn't inherit a steaming pile of poop like Bush passed on in 2009. ISIS? Who are they? They killed each other off with little help from our military, and without U.S. troops being sacrificed.
I think Obama looks really good in hindsight.
