Why cant the government and the military generals admit they dont know what to about the situation in Iraq?

Question

Its not getting any better and its getting worse.

Answer 1

Only cause the media said it is.
Talk to someone who is or was there.

Answer 2

I think they have admitted it by just their actions. I think that the United States government is thinking of new ways to create stability in the country and in doing so has replaced all of the top military leaders in the process. There are press conferences all the time where generals will be talking about situations that have taken place and how they themselves arent sure as to the details.

It is more of a learning experience, however its also a possibility of being able to attribute past conflicts to this one. The closest to this is the Vietnam war, where we were chasing hearts and minds, where we tried to help the local populace in the hopes of them helping us. It never happened. We can only fight wars in the capacity of what technology will let us, and most importantly, in the capacity of our scope of knowledge. I think if the question were openly asked to any of these generals, they would answer with something like, "at the moment the situation is changing on a daily basis, we are adjusting to it hoping that we can create a pattern. If we can understand the pattern, then we can start winning".

Remember, insurgents dont have an order of battle, they arent consistent, thats hard to counter when you are a modern military with a rank system that wont allow you to perform tasks. You have to take such things into consideration when asking such a question.

Answer 3

Do you read the stories of the violence in Iraq with any perspective? At most there is one attack per day and lately its been with less frequency. Yes each attack results in terrible loss of civilian life but do you ever actually hear about any of the progress that is being made? Never. And we are making progress. I have a nephew over there and my girlfriends nephew is on the ground with the Marines. Both of them express their amazement when I tell them that I haven't heard about any of the things they tell me thats been achieved.

Answer 4

WHy dont YOU go over there and tell them what they need to do? Sounds like you have all the answers. Problem is, they may work in that armchair you are occupying, but out there in the real world, they may be mere fantasies.

Answer 5

To me it is a learning process. They developed plans that they thought were going to work, but haven't. So they are changing tactics on the fly and are hoping that they have learned from their mistakes and that the new plans will work. The only problem is that the enemy is also changing their plans on the fly and it will be hard to keep up with them as their thinking on how to win is different than ours and we need to learn how to think like them in order to develop tactics that will gain us the advantage.

Answer 6

I guess the military doesn't have any idea what's going on the air and ground, but a citizen such as yourself does. Read below and become enlightened.

Answer 7

Apparently you do not have a relative or close buddy serving in Baghdad. They will tell you differently.

Answer 8

Does anyone ever to want to admit they are wrong? No. Its a psychological trait of human beings. No one likes to admit defeat.

Answer 9

Because they are scumbags who are afriad to admit that they got everything wrong and that they dont know what to do now.

Answer 10

Let's see, violence in Bagdad is way down since the Surge began.