christopher kremmer
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Gerard Jackson's Failed Forecasts Why is it that, so often, the people with the loudest opinions confuse noise with wisdom? In early 2003, with war looming in Iraq, neo-con web rat Gerard Jackson decided to make a pre-emptive strike--not on Baghdad--but on me. The war would be a pushover, he prognosticated, mocking predictions that it could drag on for months, and that thousands of people would die. Referring to my warnings that in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Americans could confront protracted resistance, he predicted breezily "It ain't going to happen". But wait, there's more! As Gerard saw the world from his Melbourne bed sit, George W. Bush impressed for his "dignified demeanour and refusal to be hurried into taking precipitous action...America was true to its word and brought to the Afghans hope for a permanent peace with prosperity. Bush is hoping to do the same thing for the Iraqi people, not that a leftwing (sic) journalist like Kremmer would ever admit to that truth." Well, Gerard, birds have wings, people don't, and I need neither a left nor right wing to return the compliment. You got it spectacularly wrong, as we would expect from someone who wouldn't know Afghanistan and Iraq from his own garage. I won't bother correcting the many factual errors and misrepresentations of this serial abuser. For the record, I believe that the US-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban, and subsequent international security operation there, were justified and necessary, while the invasion of Iraq was unjustified and unwise. Afghanistan did have a chance of success before it was so comprehensively bungled by a leadership long on hubris and short on intelligence and integrity. Iraq was folly from the beginning. The cost in lives in Iraq--including the lives of brave and decent members of the armed forces duty bound to follow orders—has been enormous. In Afghanistan, civilian deaths caused by Coalition forces now outnumber those caused by Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The cheerleaders for discredited leadership now themselves stand discredited. I'll bet the families of those who've died in Iraq would like to get hold of weasel word smiths like Jackson. Thousands have died unnecessarily, resistance has been bloody and relentless, the war has dragged on for years. "It ain't going to happen" Jackson reassured us. But it did. Perhaps a retraction and apology would be in order? There's nowhere to hide now, Gerard. Definitely not to be taken seriously on this or any other subject. |
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