Now we have gitlin the pundit, commenting on pundits, commenting on pundits, commenting on one pundit's hypothetical.

It seems the compacted deposits of crap are so think upon the rarefied peaks of punditry, even a small turd tumbling down may set off an avalanche, a veritable shit-storm of punditry.

Bérubé joins Sowell in overlooking (or shall we say obscuring?) the slow-motion military coup that is already in progress under cover of the surge.

Hey Todd! Are you telling me that this water is already boiling? And what I am doing in this frying pan, anyway?

--Sincerely, A Frog

So the CENTCOM commander doesn't use the phase "the long war?" Show me the order from the SECDEF or the resident that says that the aformentioned phrase is to be used by our military and I'll agree with your assessment. You won't because no such order exsist "the long war" was a propaganda phrase coined by the right and has no legal or military standing.

Nice, sort of reminds me of this. The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 by CHARLES J. DUNLAP, JR.

Anne Coulter(geist). S c a r y!

Coup schmoo (coup schmoop ?)

Yingling's ding still rings in my ears.

Hypothetical mutiny maybe - but coup?

Neoboho

You don't need guns to enslave people, you give them easy credit.

Sowell's is yet another case of the Higher Stupidity in action. The US military can't even control Iraq, which has one tenth of population and far fewer guns than the United States. Most National Guards are controlled by Democratic governors, and the largest police forces -- which are heavily armed and far outnumber the regular military -- are controlled by Democratic mayors.

Also, as Lincoln said of McClellan when people warned that the general might be planning a coup, only victorious generals march on capitols.

Sowell also seems to be suffering from the delusion that the American military actually likes this war and deplores the fact that the public hates it. The fact is that the army is pretty much much with the public on the Iraq war now. The soldiers know damn well their lives are being thrown away for nothing and the generals know that American military power is simply leaching away in the desert sands.

If there would anything resembling a coup, it wouldn't park some general in the White House dictating to the nation. It would most likely involve the unseating of Bush and Cheney and the installation of Pelosi, with the military going back to their barracks to begin rebuilding its strength.

I am tempted to suggest that the likelihood of that happening is nil, but it is also true that the American Army is out on very long limb in Iraq, hundreds of miles inland and supplied over a single road that runs through unfriendly country. In April, British casualties in the garrison that partly secures our supply line, have spiked to their highest since March 2003. Something is happening in the south.

If the insurgents in Iraq can somehow cut those supplies and force a Bataan-style like retreat, the pressure on Bush and Cheney to resign from both the military and political worlds may become irresistable. Military disaster on a large scale is still unlikely, but it can no longer be ruled out.

Hmhmmm! Klyde, "long war" has certainly entered the military lexicon in the sense that it can be used in print without definition or qualification:

Search "long war".

Other than that, the officer corps of the US Armed Forces are far too diverse and intelligent to get involved. The takeover of our institutions is being worked by the neocons for greater administrative (presidential/unitary exec. control, removing and inhibiting democracy and democratic oversight.

That, I thought, was a proven fact.

Edward Furey said, "Most National Guards are controlled by Democratic governors..." Not any more. State National Guard troops can now be mobilized by the president into national service. Please see my earlier discussion of this issue at: http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/pzykr/2006/oct/31/congress_frees_presidents_hand_to_declare_martial_law

Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

It's been over 4 years with the Iraq War and these dinosaurs still don't get it that the troops paychecks say Department of Defense, not Department of Offense, on them for a reason.

Heck yes we support the troops - enough to know they should be fighting The War on Terrorism not The War on Errorism.

Well when I applied for Navy Reserve around 1989 while I was working at Northop Aircraft, I was a dummy and thought honesty was the best policy when they asked if I had ever tried marijuana, which ended the interview right then and there and I was told the interview would go on record as well. (Now I think it is different I think they ask how many times have you tried it or something like that.)

So I've never seen a DOD paycheck I admit. But I was more trying to make a point then talk about the paycheck.

I thought I had answered the second question. And I am guessing you realize I am referring to the Iraq War as the "War on Errorism." But if not you now know my new slogan for the Iraq War.

Although - all us bloggers here at TPM are involved in another sort of "War on Errorism." (Kicking the Republican Dinosaurs out of office.)

Perhaps not literally "long war", but "protracted war" is the title of one of Mao's major works on guerilla warfare. Giap used similar language.

--
Howard

*equal opportunity offense to both extremes*

"When doing battle, seek a quick victory. A protracted battle will blunt weapons and dampen ardor." [Sun Tzu]