The importance of reality-based analysis of Iraq and the Middle East

A comprehensive, expansive report from the Rand Corporation -- a report commissioned by the Pentagon, no less -- details just how screwed up our political, military, and intelligence policies are when it comes to insurgencies. The report describes U.S. actions in the Muslim world as "at best inadequate, at worst counter-productive, and, on the whole, infeasible." We are nearly five years into the war in Iraq. Five years. We're not getting it right. We're not winning. And the government isn't being honest about either of these facts.

These misjudgments and mistakes are costing hundreds of thousands of people their lives. I care about these issues because I think it's important to cut through the lies and the misdirection. This kind of thing is why it's so frustrating when people try to tell me the surge is "working." If a person has cancer and a cut, and you put a band-aid on the cut, the person isn't cured. People deserve to know the root causes of the problems with our policies, and this report apparently really gets to the meat of things.

Of course, if you want to know more about these problems from somebody who experienced them up close and personal, you should buy my book! It hit stores yesterday and is currently hovering around number 1 or 2 on Amazon for books on Intelligence as well as on the Iraq War. (You didn't really think I'd get through a post without a plug, did you? Buy it for yourself, your friends, your congressional delegation, and anybody else who could use some honesty about Iraq and intel.)