Nice, thanks for sharing. It'll make good blog fodder.

And btw, thanks, Greg, for your consistently excellent work.

Why does Rand hate America?

Rand Corporation: Reporting the Obvious, Months Behind Better Think Tanks.

How Bush campaigned against McCain and Kerry should tell you everything you need to know about how the current White House really feels about the Military. Of course the same people that smeared McCain when they worked for Bush under Rove in 2000 and in 2004 when they against worked under Bush/Rove against Kerry all of a sudden think Military service is paramount and should be ran on and exploited.

God this administration is so f*cking stupid. Of course its a law enforcement issue. They are criminals, treat them as such. Don't turn them into holy warriors. What a bunch of f'n idiots. God when will America wake the f*ck up! It's so sad and disgusting. Please wake up!

Imagine that! John McCain's pronouncements don't measure up with a think tank’s findings.

Not only the RAND Corporation but as Spencer Ackerman reports at Washington Independent, so does Condi Rice's counter-terror adviser

After nearly seven years of costly strategic ignorance in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a coming handbook written mostly by a former top aide to Gen. David H. Petraeus seeks to instruct senior civilian policy-makers about the complexities of counterinsurgency.
"Counterinsurgency: A Guide for Policy-Makers" takes the lessons learned by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan and elevates them to the highest levels of national strategy....
Asked for comment, the handbook's chief author, David Kilcullen, a former Australian Army officer who is now an adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, explained that it tells policy-makers to "think very, very carefully before intervening." More bluntly, Kilcullen, who helped Petraeus design his 2007 counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, called the decision to invade Iraq "stupid" -- in fact, he said "fucking stupid" ** -- and suggested that if policy-makers apply the manual's lessons, similar wars can be avoided in the future.
"The biggest stupid idea," Kilcullen said, "was to invade Iraq in the first place."

So between the Rand Corp and D. Kilcullen (quoted above, thanks JohnMcCSF) why am I getting the impression that all of a sudden Shubs wonderful war to save america is all of a sudden not so wonderful. What is going on? We all have known for so long this administration is so flipping stupid. Don't tell me Shrub is going under the bus!!! Greg - you are so good at this stuff - where is this all coming from? Old guard republicains? Does any one else have this impression?

People who normally would never have considered joining an insurgency do so when members of their family are shot in cold blood or are incarcerated indefinitely or tortured or "disappeared." War incites people; it does not quell violence.

If another country sent its military here -- to steal our natural resources -- Americans would be up in arms fighting their soldiers and likewise the Iraqi people, but they are called "terrorists."

The authour is correct "terrorists" should be referred to as criminals not holy warriors. This is not a crusade nor a holy war. To suggest it as such exacerbates the situation. About a year or two ago PM Brown announced he would stop calling it a war on terror and Australia followed suit, not Bush.

The only reason Bush calls it a war on terror is to "justify" his unprecedented power grab. As a 'war' president Bush believes he can do anything with or without the consent of Congress. He cites national security to prevent the courts from hearing legitimate cases. Rarely do they rule against him, but when they do Bush ignores them, too. He literally has unfettered powers.

Bush controls the courts, congress and the media, too. Therein having control over the message Bush will never consent to changing the language nor tactics. To do so would be admitting he took the wrong approach. Furthermore Bush will not risk the chance of having to cede power.

Neither WMD nor terrorists existed in Iraq. Yet Bush knowingly took military action. Now over a million Iraqis are dead. Tens of thousands languish in jail without charge and no way to contact their family. Many have been tortured and/or "disappeared." None of which can be rectified muchless justified.

There will be repercussions somewhere, sometime, some day because Bush lied and people died. Until the root problem is addressed, the language is changed and tactics are adjusted this will never end.

Individuals will continue fighting against nations that wage war for, what they perceive to be, no apparent reason other than to steal their natural resources, occupy their land and support dictators.