TomPaine.com – Laughing Dragon, Dancing Bear

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/laughing_dragon_dancing_bear.php

Wayback machine link:

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/laughing_dragon_dancing_bear.php

Laughing Dragon, Dancing Bear
The author, Ray McGovern began his 27-year career with the CIA as the analyst for Soviet relations with China and Southeast Asia.

Developing the significance of Russia and The Peoples Republic of China holding joint miltary exercises on Chinese soil for the first time ever in 2005 McGovern postulates that Russia and the PRC are becoming ever closer along the lines of the dictum ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ he writes…

‘The Russians and Chinese look on the quicksand in which U.S. forces are trying to stay afloat in Iraq with mixed feelings: alarm at what they see as unconstrained, unpredictable U.S. behavior, and Schadenfreude at the fiasco brought about by ineptitude on the part of senior civilian defense officials and careerism among the generals, many of whom know better but have not the spine to tell their superiors that the war in Iraq cannot be won.’ Whilst I agree with the general thrust of McGovern’s argument about the consequences of a Russo-Sino military alliance I think he overplays his hand when he says the war cannot be won. Just because America withdrew from South East Asia does not mean the same will happen in Iraq. The argument that America can’t win because it won’t be able to sustain casulaties has been shot to pieces with over 1,300 dead the resolve of the Bush Administration hasn’t weakened. The USA does have the means and more importantly the will to win in Iraq. Whether it will have been worth the deaths of so many is debateable.