THE NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTER, HONEST!

[rmd]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-na-postwar18jul18,1,7035725.story?coll=la-home-headlines is an article about post-war-planning fuckups... and here's the bit at the end.

Still, [Douglas J. Feith, #3 official at the Pentagon] and other Pentagon officials said, they are studying the lessons of Iraq closely --- to ensure that the next U.S. takeover of a foreign country goes more smoothly.

"We're going to get better over time," promised Lawrence Di Rita, a special assistant to Rumsfeld. "We've always thought of post-hostilities as a phase" distinct from combat, he said. "The future of war is that these things are going to be much more of a continuum....

"This is the future for the world we're in at the moment," he said. "We'll get better as we do it more often."

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

...

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

"This is the future for the world we're in at the moment," he said. "We'll get better as we do it more often."

That has to be one of the most chilling things I've ever read. My god, we need to vote these people out of office posthaste.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

He then said, "Oops, was that my OUTSIDE voice?"

It's one thing to suspect they're planning to etc. but to have someone pretty much come out and SAY it...

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. It's so utterly ludicrous, it comes across as hilariously funny ... and then I remember that it's NOT a joke. Ooof!

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Hmm...annoyingly, one needs to register to see this article. I'm curious, but not curious enough to register.

[firni.livejournal.com]

GEEZ, did you see the info they want to register? Unlike the NYTimes, they want your freaking SNAIL MAIL address, phone number, blah blah blah. Fergit it.

Although, to be annoying, I suppose I could just input my mother-in-law's information. mua ha ha ha

Hey, here's the article on another site!
http://www.iraqfoundation.org/news/2003/gjuly/18_peace.html

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

they want your freaking SNAIL MAIL address, phone number, blah blah blah. Fergit it.

Exactly. Fuck THAT, sez I.

Thanks for the other link to the story, though!

[marith.livejournal.com]

I hope that quote gets passed around the UN promptly....

[thespian.livejournal.com]

and people wonder why the united states scares people.

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a scary sentiment to think that we'll be actively looking to invade other countries on a frequent enough level to 'get better at it'.

On the other hand, it /is/ sort of the military's job to view their past efforts (especially most recent ones) and to actively work on plans to improve their performance 'the next time'. I think in the current situation with our current leadership, the man's words have a more chilling ring than is necessarily intended. The military is always running on the assumption that some day they'll actually have to employ the training and research and improvements that they work on. They need to run on that assumption, otherwise there's no way for them to be effective in their efforts to become better at what they do.

With Bush in the oval office, I sadly think it not entirely unlikely that 'the next time' will be in the not too distant future, but I don't necessarily think this fellow is meaning to say 'so, next week, when we roll out to take over our next country, we'll be doing things a lot more smoothly'.