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Rich;
I’ve been following the story quite closely since the invasion and before. For example, the Naval Institute is conducting a conference on “riverine warfare.” The milblogs have been writing about this for 6 months. The other aspect that is beginning to become visible is the future role of the Iraqi army. I think we are building a second Turkey, in which the army is the conscience of the nation. It will allow the politicians to squabble and establish consensus if possible but, if they can’t, the army will step in. Mark my words, a year from now the Iraqi army will rule Iraq with the politicians functioning as best they can to defuse sectarian issues. This will be a satisfactory solution if we train them right.
ME: This is interesting. I had an inkling of a similar thought when I saw this comment by an Iraqi general in the Ignatius column today: “There can be only one hero in Iraq–the army.”