Message from Iraq

MNF-I counterinsurgency adviser and SWJ blogger Dave Kilcullen was featured in a 29 August op-ed piece in The Australian - Our Leaders Must Match Iraqis by Janet Alberechtsen.

Alberechtsen opens with a preview of what President Bush should expect during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney and quickly cuts to the quick in challenging those who “wish U.S. failure” in Iraq to answer two critical questions:

… Bush arrives in Sydney next week. Mostly, Bush's visit will attract open hostility from feral Bush-haters and quiet ridicule from many others. And the reason is Iraq.

Many have a vested interest in an American failure in Iraq. Not just the emotional anti-Bushies but also the more level-headed people who believe failure in Iraq is needed to puncture American hubris.

Those willing a failure in Iraq to vindicate their derision of Bush ought to answer two questions: Do they have an alternative solution? And what does a precipitate troop withdrawal mean for Iraqis?...