Quote of the Day/Read of the Day

''Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them.''
T.E. Lawrence

Lawrence is quoted in "The Way of the Commando," by Peter Maas in today's NYTimes Magazine. The long read acknowledges that the war in Iraq is not another Vietnam -- quite a statement for the NYT -- but instead, is modeled more after El Salvadore.

Focusing on anti-insurgency commandos under the leadership of Gen. Adnan Thabit , the article is a reason for both hope and caution.

The hope comes from the adaptability of US forces, who saw their plan to raise an army and policy force in Iraq free of Baathist/Saddamite forces was proving ineffective, and deadly for the new Iraqi recruits. Adnan's commandos and others began their anti-insurgency warfare without the knowledge or blessing of the Americans, who later began supporting them because they were getting things done with fewer losses.

The caution comes from the lessons of El Salvador, where thousands of civilians went missing or were tortured, and from the fear of putting Iraq back into the hands of the Baathists. Maas lingers long over the interrogation tactics used by Adnan's troops, and the American's awareness of them. He makes it clear that the Americans step in if things are getting out of line -- but he also makes it clear that his definition of "getting out of line" and the American troops' definition are different.

I'm with the troops,and was reassured by how the Americans came across; it made Abu Ghraib look like the aberration that it was.