Iraq: It Was the Coffee

Right-wing dorkball* Michael Ledeen has discovered why Iraq has not gone exactly as planned:

Note that an increase in embeds doesn't necessarily require an increase in overall troop strength. We've got lots of soldiers sitting on megabases all over Iraq. They should be out and about, some of them embedded, others just moving around, tracking the terrorists, hunting them down. I don't know how many guys and gals are sitting in air-conditioned quarters and drinking designer coffee, but it's a substantial number. Enough of that.

It was the "designer coffee." Not a complete failure of strategy, intelligence, foreign policy, tactics, or logistics.

It was the damn coffee. You see, if we used a good American coffee like Folgers, not one of those pansy liberal coffees, things would have been much better.

How did such a loon ever get taken seriously?

A serious note: In his article, Ledeen states that things would be much better if we also did 'regime change' in Syria and Iran. Death, double or nothing! WHEEEEEE! These guys just can't be taken seriously.

*I don't know what a 'dorkball' would even be, but after re-reading Ledeen's idiotic column, the word somehow seems appropriate.

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On the other hand, if Osama Bin Laden had invested his hundreds of megabucks by buying a major share of Starbucks stock, he'd be well on his way to taking over the world.

Also ironic that Ledeen ignores the actual history of coffee.

History of coffee: "The history of coffee has been recorded as far back as the ninth century. During that time, coffee beans were available only in their native habitat, Ethiopia, but, when the Arab world began expanding its trade horizons, the beans moved into northern Africa and were mass-cultivated. From there, the beans entered the Indian and European markets, and the popularity of the beverage spread..."

Well then, it's partly my fault.

I sent a whole box-full of Blue Mountain to my brother and his buddies, who sit in an air conditioned office in Fallujah.

I did this because the Marines can only afford crap coffee for their men and women.

And gosh, I sure hope there aren't any Ledeens caught up in the coming Syrian and Iranian wars. It would be a pity to deny the next generation such sublime wisdom.

By Ick of the East (not verified) on 11 Jan 2007 #permalink