Planning?...um...Hey, Mission Accomplished!

From Today in Iraq, here's an interesting story about an as yet unofficial Army report suggesting that the U.S. Military lost critical momentum in the two months following the lightning raid on Baghdad--momentum that has yet to be gained back:

The U.S. military lost its dominance in Iraq shortly after its invasion in 2003, a study concluded.

A report by the U.S. Army official historian said the military was hampered by the failure to occupy and stabilize Iraq in 2003. As a result, the military lost its dominance by July 2003 and has yet to regain that position.

"In the two to three months of ambiguous transition, U.S. forces slowly lost the momentum and the initiative gained over an off-balanced enemy," the report said. "The United States, its Army and its coalition of the willing have been playing catch-up ever since."

The report was authored by Maj. Isaiah Wilson, the official historian of the U.S. Army for the Iraq war. Wilson also served as a war planner for the army's 101st Airborne Division until March 2004, Middle East Newsline reported. His report, not yet endorsed as official army history, has been presented to several academic conferences.

Let's see...while this was occurring, I distinctly remember the following:

Stuff Happens.

Mission Accomplished!

Bring 'em On!

Hmmm...to use a rough analogy, that's the kind of stuff you might hear from the people in the stands after a team scores a touchdown--but you'd expect something more from a head coach and his braintrust--and you'd CERTAINLY expect more from the pResident and his top advisors, who should know that war is quite a bit more serious and deadly than a game.

I guess that's the kind of news that Bush et al don't want to hear. After all, it takes away from all that glory to bask in.

But I'd like to note one more sports analogy, because I think of it every time I hear about how quickly the drive to Baghdad went. If I'm not mistaken, the record for the fastest first-ever touchdown for a pro football team is roughly ten seconds. It's held by...The New Orleans Saints.

On the opposite side--sorry for the slow posting today...work got busy in a hurry.