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April 02, 2003
War on the Cheap
A few days ago I was musing about why Donald Rumsfeld was so determined to wage such a cheap war on Iraq. Why not send in another couple of divisions and spend $150 billion instead of $75 billion? Who cares, really? Mickey Kaus has been musing about this too, and comes to one of the same conclusions I did: he wants it to be cheap because he wants to fight a whole bunch of these wars. It's the neocon grand plan, after all. The difference between Mickey and me, though, is that when Mickey gets paranoid, he goes whole hog. Check it out here. (And why is it that kausfiles doesn't have permalinks, anyway? You'll just have to scroll down to "Kf gets paranoid" for this one.) UPDATE: Matt Yglesias ups it a notch and gives Mickey a run for his money. But he says he's just kidding. Really. Posted By Calpundit at April 2, 2003 02:08 AM | TrackBackComments
Why go with the lighter force? (1) It is cheaper, and the government is facing a deficit. Cheaper is always better than more expensive, when cheaper will get the job done. (2) The lighter force has proven perfectly adequate. Please point out any tactical engagements that we have lost because we lacked heavy armor. Please point out any strategic opportunities unexploited because we lacked heavy armor in Kuwait. (3) The race to Baghdad required a lighter force - the heavies are slow, and this plan called for speed. It has worked. (4) The lighter force demonstrates to the North Koreans and others that they are hopelessly outclassed militarily, and had better be rethinking their prospects. (5) A heavier force creates an even bigger supply problem. At this point, we seem to have all the troops up front that we can keep in beans and bullets. See? Lots of good reasons for going with Rumsfled/Frank plan, but most importantly - ITS WORKING! Criticizing a plan that is well on its way to success is a particularly stupid way to fritter away your credibility. Posted by: T. Hartin at April 2, 2003 07:37 AMVietnam was originally fought "on the cheap" too.0 Posted by: 8bitjoystick.com at April 2, 2003 11:46 PMPost a comment
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