Frederick Kagan, Michael O'Hanlon, and Kenneth Pollack: The Three Musketeers of Neo-Colonialism

While channel surfing the other day I caught part of a panel discussion on C-SPAN where Frederick Kagan, Michael O'Hanlon, and Kenneth Pollack were offering the world their collective wisdom about the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Their joint appearance was held -- where else? -- at the American Enterprise Institute. It had all the trappings of an actual academic event, except for the fact that there was unanimity of opinion in the room that George W. Bush did the world a favor when he lied us into invading and occupying Iraq. The audience at AEI consisted of white men in business suits, most of whom admitted to having some kind of contractual corporate relationship with profiting from the occupation. There was also a smattering of Republican staffers and fellow travelers. Kagan, O'Hanlon, and Pollack held court where they outlined their belief that everything General David Petraeus has done in Iraq has been exemplary of strategic brilliance on par with the accomplishments of Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, and MacArthur.

The hot air had barely escaped their mouths when events on the ground in Iraq contradicted everything they claimed about the great "strategic success" of the surge. It is not surprising that these pseudo-scholars would heap praise on their own creation, but what was kind of a shock was their complete misunderstanding (willful?) of the difference between "tactics" and "strategy." These "intellectual" Iraq occupation enthusiasts repeatedly insisted that the "surge" was part of a grand "strategy" for "winning" in Iraq. And they offered the now obligatory and tired cliché that "progress" is being made, a "turning point" has been reached, and we must be patient for the "surge" to bear fruit, (maybe in the next 6 to 9 months).

Kagan, O'Hanlon, and Pollack -- the Three Musketeers of Neo-Colonialism -- offered their "expert" advice for "staying the course" in Iraq at about the exact same time all hell was breaking out in Basra. The Shia Mahdi Army is in an epic turf battle with the Shia Fadhila militia and the Shia government in Baghdad under the U.S.-backed regime of Nouri al-Maliki. President George W. Bush is quoted today in the New York Times giving his blessing to the crackdown in Basra saying: "This offensive builds on the security gains of the surge and demonstrates to the Iraqi people that their government is committed to protecting them. There's a strong commitment by the central government of Iraq to say no one is above the law."

This is an amazing statement coming from a U.S. President who is responsible for this catastrophe. Bush seems actually to believe that there is such a thing as the "law" in Iraq. Even with the 2 million refugees and the 2 million internally displaced people, and the 1 million dead; and the blowing up of a major oil pipeline; and the fighting among Shia militias, and the Balkanization and Somalia-zation of Iraq; and the daily photographs of anguished Iraqis weeping for their innocent dead; and the corruption of the U.S. contractors and the criminal syndicates; and the kidnappings and beheadings, and the 1,500 civilians killed each month; and the illegality of the invasion and occupation, Bush still tells us that "no one is above the law." Like the Three Musketeers, Bush is clearly delusional.

What Kagan, O'Hanlon, and Pollack were doing at the AEI the other day was to float trial balloons and set up an early positive press frame for the upcoming testimony of General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Kagan, O'Hanlon, and Pollack will no doubt be getting a lot of face time on PBS and NPR and the 24-hour cable news shows sharing their wisdom about how their "surge" has worked and we need to continue the occupation, (especially now that fighting has broken out once again). I am already sick of looking at Kagan's portly double chin, O'Hanlon's disheveled red hair, and Pollack's pinched bespectacled mannequin-like visage.

So the same province, Basra, that Petraeus boasted about being secure the last time he testified to Congress is now an out-of-control mini-state, but the conclusion remains: "Things are improving in Iraq and therefore the U.S. must stay; things are getting worse in Iraq and therefore the U.S. must also stay." It sounds like the advice the cable business television shows give to their viewers about the stock market: "The stock market is tanking therefore it's a great time to buy stock; the stock market is rising therefore it's a great time to buy stock."

What the Three Musketeers do not seem to understand is that "strategically" the Iraq invasion and occupation failed miserably years ago:

Overthrowing the Sunni Baathist regime in Baghdad removed the chief impediment to Iran's growing influence in the region.

The mayhem and disorder following the power vacuum the U.S. created in Iraq led to the Balkanization of the country where we now have so many armed groups vying for power and shifting alliances no one can sort it out.

Iraqis who would today be computer engineers or architects are dedicating their expertise to perfecting the car bomb and IED as instruments of urban guerrilla warfare.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq has created at least 25,000 new anti-American fighters who have formed new networks of international terrorist organizations.

The people of the world are outraged by the U.S. violations of Iraqi sovereignty and its imperial aggression, knowing full well that the 112 billion barrels of oil in Iraq are part of the motive.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which exposed to the world, especially to our long-standing allies, that U.S. policymakers are nothing but a pack of liars.

Add to all of this the disgraces of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, the torture, the renditions, the illegal surveillance, and the no-bid contracts going to KBR, Blackwater, and other corporations connected to the Bush Administration, and it becomes very difficult to see the "strategic" successes of which Kagan, O'Hanlon, and Pollack speak.

In September 2002, Kenneth Pollack said: "The only prudent and realistic course of action left to the United States is to mount a full-scale invasion of Iraq to smash the Iraqi armed forces, depose Saddam's regime, and rid the country of weapons of mass destruction." Pollack's book on Iraq is widely seen as being the most influential argument for the invasion among "scholars" and his status as a former Clinton NSC official gave it a patina of bipartisanship. But in a more recent interview in the November-December 2007 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review Pollack said; "I don't like to characterize myself as a supporter of the invasion."

Similar examples of intellectual dishonesty can easily be found in the utterances of Kagan and O'Hanlon too. Why are PBS and NPR still listening to these charlatans and frauds? The Three Musketeers of Neo-Colonialism soon will be darkening our TV screens and polluting our radio waves, doing advance work for the Petraeus-Crocker dog and pony show coming to Congress next month.

Comments

[mamacat]

It is human nature for someone who has actively sought power, to want more power.
Thus, start a little war, and the generals will want more men and weapons to play with. It's just human nature. And when the generals retire, they can go play on the boards of directors of the companies getting rich off of the public teat. Such is life.

"The war is going great! Just give me more men and equipment, and we can keep it going forever! And, by the way, if you don't, then you are not a true American patriot!"

On the other hand, there are no American interests at risk in this little Iraq war, so it is perfectly safe to wage it. No matter what happens, we have nothing to lose, except the lives and welfare of our soldiers, and the ability to spend money at home on those things that are vitally necessary to American interests. You know, the little things like healthcare, education, global warming, social security, job displacements due to funding the shipping of factories to China, little things like that.

Vote Republican again, and lets see if things can get any worse.

[Manx]

We know that Petraeus is a political animal and even the recently retired Admiral Fallon has said that Petraeus is a toady for the Bush administration. That's why he was picked. We all know what he will say just as we knew what McCain (McBush) would say when he returned from his recent PR trip, paid for by us taxpayers, to Iraq. "The surge is working and we are succeeding." He could have recorded his comments at a film studio in the U.S., with Iraq backdrops, and saved us the travel expenses.

Now that we fighting in Iraq's civil war, puppet Maliki's army against al Sadr's militias, shiites against shiites, Bush is telling us that it is a "defining moment" in Iraq's quest for democracy. It's enough to make you puke.

[mamacat]

Now that he is no longer on active duty, why doesn't Congress call on Adm. Fallon to give a rebuttal to Petraeus? As a technical civilian, he should be legally allowed to disagree with "Commander-in-Chief".
Now that is an interview I would love to watch.

[marleysghost]

It really is no secret that this Republican Administration and its corporate supporters and apologists are a criminal enterprise and should be prosecuted for treason, war profiteering on the same large scale as the Nazis at Nuremberg. But we won't do that because we are cowardly and simply self-satisfied "Sunshine Patriots." Not a "Winter Soldier" anywhere but a few voices crying out in a overfed bloated selfish has-been nation.

When the Chinese call in the chips and the Saudis turn off the oil taps, watch the whining begin in earnest.

[JoeyP]

The Three of them are indeed "stooges" -- stooges of Bush's Neo-colonialist aggression -- when you see them on TV and hear them on NPR etc. we should all write to those stations and demand they be exposed for the imperial war criminals they are -- what other group than the Three Stooges or the Three Musketeers comprise a useful label?? The Three Blind Mice? The Three Little Piggies? The Three unWise Men?

[PhyloSeFiser]

Thanks for writing this. We need to get out in front of this argument before it gains any steam. I think we'll also hear a lot about how our soldiers are being attacked by Iranian made weapons in an effort to build support for expanding this fiasco.

[EGNY]

I also agree with "jfor" that we can"t fix Iraq until we hold the Bushies accountable.

A public airing of the Bush administration"s crimes is also essential to more broadly debunk the fallacious thinking and wholesale dishonesty that have become imbedded in many Americans" thinking. Take a look at the comment boards that follow any political article on "mass" venues like AOL -- you will be appalled at the vitriol and shocking ignorance displayed there. So much of it sounds like it was taken from Karl Rove"s talking points (because, directly or indirectly, it was).

The problems with the Bushies go far beyond differences of opinion between liberal and conservative ideology. We must publicly acknowledge the unambiguous, demonstrably criminal acts these people have committed, so that Bush/Cheney can take their rightful place as the gargantuan progeny of Nixon in our country"s history. This whole presidency belongs in our children"s (and grandchildren"s) history books as a cautionary tale of what can go wrong with the electoral process and our Democracy as a whole.

This is why the Democratic leadership"s failure to pursue impeachment is so wrong. They"ve made a short-sighted calculation about the political costs of doing what"s right. But the real cost is that, if we fail to scrub away the patina of legitimacy that still clings to everything the Bush administration has done, their lies will stay alive, capable of poising the electorate for many, many years to come.

[jteschke]

These three stooges, as well as many of the operatives of the Bush regime are war criminals. By the way, it's also unfair to the memory of the stooges to equate them to these swine. On another note, the latest bombings and continuing abuse of air power constitute war crimes. Members of the Bush regime and military officers best beware of future travel plans. This was suggested by a British international law and war crimes expert when he faced off against Bush torture advocate professor John Yoo some time ago. Indeed, if the US economy continues on its present path, superpower status may be undermined to the point that the rule of law can begin to triumph against those guilty of crimes. I agree with the post indicating that America won't recover until the Bush regime is fully accounted for.

[kooshy]

Joe If you knew these guys long enough and you had tuned to their arguments in the past you should call them the three stooges rather then the musketeers .Their lethal weapons are not the musket but rather their stupidity and lack of the knowledge of the region and mentality of the people living there. However fortunately people of the region and Iraq in particular who are the real deciders are not tuning to US/ western mass media and regardless of this stooges they they are bravely fighting a new war of colonialism against the western powers that are in fact client states of US. Period

[bobo209]

The three war criminals should be at the HAGUE TRIBUNALS FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

[jfor]

America is failing and will continue to fail until an honest accounting of the Bush presidency is held. We cannot correct the errors that Bush and his cabal of conservatve cronies have thrust upon us and the innocents in Iraq until we the people hold those responsible, accountable.

Until these criminals and the crimes they have committed are thrust into the open and dealt with honestly and without partisanship we are doomed to continued failure in Iraq and at home on all fronts.

Bush has touted an "ownership society" throughout his tenure as the destroyer of America, isn't it now time for those who created the debacle in Iraq now stand and take ownership of the failures they have made and continue to support today?

[MajorKong]

In a just world, these three would be spending the rest of their lives changing bedpans at Walter Reed.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

You're absolutely correct, These men appear to live in a parallel universe from you and I. The greatest irony I've found is that in spite of all their academic credentials, they got the very basics wrong from the start. They may have read their Machiavelli, but they certainly didn't understand him too well. These men are guilty of magical thinking. They believe if they chant the right incantations and will it hard enough, that it will happen.

[TJoad]

Great post! Excellent!

Sums up the wretched, nightmarish heart of darkness perpetuated by the fraudulent neocons over the past 5 years.

[leftLibertarian]

All three suffer from 'white man's burden.' And all three are chicken hawks. But I offer them this: a ticket to Iraq to fight in a war that they wanted and if they act now, I will give them lessons on firing an M-16.

[realpolitic]

They are collectively a burden to all of us who value peace.

[realpolitic]

It was hilarlious when Kagan and Pollack came forward last time to describe how the surge was a success and took on the moniker as "former war critics." They have done little but cheerlead for the war from the Saddam weapon's hype contrivance. One wonders if the AEI gets its marching orders directly from the White House because, as Mr. Palermo suggests, this media event was designed to lay the groundwork for the Petraeus testimony and ask for the usual refrain of six more months. As stated, in the Columbia Journalism Review Pollack said, "I do not like to characterize myself as a supporter of the invasion." Yes, because this honest admission will cast aside his cloak of impartiality and show him for the Bush cheerleader he is. This crew is shameless and should spend six months on the front lines ministering to wounded soldiers and Iraqi families.