WP, Froomkin: The Ugly Truth: Confusing strategy, tactics, and goals

[DeepModem Mom]

The Ugly Truth
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, October 20, 2006

....When it comes to Iraq, Bush's political strategy in the run-up to the mid-term elections has been to stress the possible downsides of the "cut and run" approach -- civil war, increased carnage, instability at the heart of the Middle East, Iraq as a base for terror -- while refusing to acknowledge that his "stay the course" approach, ironically, appears to be delivering all those things and more.

Now, a presidency that has been all about aggression risks a major public rebuff as a sizeable majority of the Americans appears to have accepted what Bush can't: That his brassy approach has backfired -- and that it's we who are getting beaten up.

Evidently, something needs to change. But what?

The Bush White House (and its press corps) often confuse tactics, strategy and goals. Tactics are what you use in the service of the strategy you choose to achieve your goal. Even the best tactics, in pursuit of an ill-chosen strategy, will not achieve the desired goal.

Bush's goal is a stable, secure, democratic Iraq. His strategy is for American troops to stay there until that happens. The tactics are getting those troops killed.

And while the president has been talking about adjusting tactics lately, but he can't accept that his strategy may need changing -- or even his goal. At least not yet....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html

[David__77]

1. "Adjusting tactics" and "adjusting strategy" are very different.

I said earlier when this Bush "tactics" thing came out: "Only a radically different strategic plan may make a difference. Simply tinkering with tactics is meaningless. Of course, the US cannot "win" in Iraq - Bush has already ensured utter defeat. History has been written. The US can only minimize the damage to its hegemony at this point."