Brigadier,
"I don’t subscribe to what they are doing, but I cannot shy away from admiring them for their sheer brilliance!"
No empires here. Just keeping the world safe for your posts, Brigadier. Surely you don't want us to withdraw from Iraq precipitously. Neither can I imagine you, of all people, wanting the mullahs of Iran to hold a nuclear strangle-hold on the world's energy supplies. And Afghanistan is both a national obligation in light of 9/11 for America, good business for Afghanistan's future if seen through and a great good fortune for India's strategic posture w/ Pakistan.
No sir. I'm certain that whatever tactical faux pas' have been found, you won't object to those strategic objectives and requirements. As to those tactical faux pas, I know that you've since found the U.S. Army and U.S.M.C. to be remarkably adaptive cultural creatures with more social inquisitiveness than you could heretofore imagine, particularly in RC-East and al-Anbar.
As such, you've been comforted by our military's adaptiveness which has mitigated much of the early damage caused by Cheney's less astute neo-con knights and laid the ground-work for a resurrection of American political objectives as nearly and innocently intended- if at a greater cost of time and lives.
Still, no plan survives contact and we've found that bad operational plans absolutely don't. That's encouraging. Having found our balance I've little doubt that we'll be splendid on the next phase of "Global Democratic Transformation- Whether You Want It Or Not".
Bet that thought really warms the cockles of your heart, Brigadier!
