Wes Clark was a guest on Hannity & Colmes the evening after Bush's State of the Union address. And soft pudgy too-good-to-enlist Sean Hannity presumes to lecture the four-star general and decorated combat veteran on military strategy?
Un-effin'-believable.
There's a video of the relevant piece at Crooks & Liars, or you can watch the whole interview at WesPAC's website. But here's what Hannity said:
Hannity: You said there was no new strategy. Let me tell you what the new strategy is 'cause clearly, uh, I guess you’re missing what the President’s saying here. The prior strategy, and the President admitted that there were some mistakes made, was that they go in and they’d clear out the insurgency and they didn’t stay long enough or hold those areas long enough. Now the new strategy with the troop surge will be go in, remove the insurgents, hold the areas as part… and also accelerate the training of Iraqi troops and police. That is a new strategy.Clark: I don’t think that’s a new strategy. I've...
Hannity: Hold on a second,
Clark: ...heard him for a year talking about...
Hannity: No.
Clark: ..."seize, clear and hold."
Hannity: That’s what it is now.
How absurd that Hannity thinks he knows what strategy is, much less that he would correct General Wesley "Supreme Allied Commander" Clark on the subject.
But the kicker comes from a blog known as Nitpicker, where one very astute blogger proves that Hannity can't even keep his talking points straight. Because here is precisely what Bush and Rice called their "strategy" (if you can call it that) in 2005 and 2006:
Condoleezza Rice, October 19, 2005: In short, with the Iraqi Government, our political-military strategy has to be to clear, hold, and build: to clear areas from insurgent control, to hold them securely, and to build durable, national Iraqi institutions.George W. Bush, October 28, 2005: Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive plan. As Secretary Rice explained last week, our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We are working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas securely, and to build lasting and democratic Iraqi institutions.
Condoleezza Rice, November 20, 2005: When we talk about clear, hold, and build, what we really mean is that we and the Iraqis have been successful now in clearing areas. Iraqi forces are now attaining the numbers and capabilities that will allow them to hold those places and not allow bad guys to come back. And then they can build economic and political institutions.
White House Fact Sheet, March 20, 2006: Strategy for Victory: Clear, Hold, and Build
So Wes Clark is right, this isn't a new strategy, and Sean Hannity is an idiot. Well, no surprise to any of that.
But you have to ask yourself, what does an increase in the number of troops, doing the same jobs in the same places for the same objectives, have to do with strategy anyway?
More "On Strategy" coming up.
