Fixing Iraq

Understanding how to fix the mess in Iraq is simple. Actually doing it - considering the logistics and political factors - is very difficult, and will never be accomplished under the present administration.

First step: Clean out the Pentagon. Get rid of every neo-con PNAC incumbent. These are all ideologues, individuals who can blow up the world on paper but could not fire a cap pistol.

Next, fire all the politically connected Generals. This is not the Third Reich. Officers swear their loyalty to the Constitution, not to the temporary occupant of the White House. Those officers who have risen in rank due to their personal loyalty to President Bush and the Neo-cons are not fit to command a sandbox - and they have proven it.

Consider the recently retired flag officers such as Shinsecki, Casey and Zinni. Recall the best and brightest generals colonels who have not been tainted by the subversive politics of the current command structure.

Identify the best E-8 and E-9 NCOs . These individuals are the heart of the Army. Spell out the mission and the objective - they will get the message to the troops.

Set reasonable short-term objectives and missions. “Bringing democracy to the people of Iraq” is an absolutely meaningless phrase unless some actual progress can be gained by defeating the terrorists.

Move all conventional troops out of Iraq. They are like elephants trying to fight a fly. Station them in neighboring areas on standby.

Put a senior unconventional warfare officer in charge. Use Special Forces, Ranger, Seals and Marine Raider units as they are meant to be used. Organize them in their normal small group, mobile configuration. Take the fight to the terrorists on our terms, not theirs. Use night raids and ambushes, every unconventional method at our disposal and harass the terrorists continuously.

Go light. Stay mobile. Everyone goes on MREs, three days ration as a combat load. Big rucksacks slow down troops and weaken them in the desert heat. They are sitting duck targets.

Appoint a panel of retired military experts from all branches to thoroughly research the infiltration of non-military religious fundamentalists into the faculties of each military academy. Young cadets are already poisoned by these bible-banging bigots. The academies are now graduating junior officer whose loyalty is to their stone-age religion rather than to the Constitution of the United States. This is of the greatest priority. If the trend is not stopped, and reversed, we will have an armed force no better than some Sunni militia. The future health, well-being, efficiency and loyalty of our Academy graduates, and the military service as a whole, depends on it.

This is what must be done, but it will never happen in this administration. To fix Iraq: regime change begins at home.