C.D. Alston Day
By Chris Bray at Historiblogography urges us to celebrate December 29 as C.D. Alston Day, in honor of the Air Force Brigadier General who predicted confidently one year ago that Iraqi insurgents were unlikely to be able to sustain their attacks for much longer. As Bray points out elsewhere, C.D. Alston’s remarks are worth recalling
Because it appears that, in the coming weeks, we will be watching as the administration and its subordinates in the military make their inherently political argument about the positive effects of a so-called “surge” of U.S. forces in Iraq. In this spectacularly obtuse Dec. 2005 announcement, we have a simple piece of evidence that clearly shows the emptiness of American political rhetoric about the course of the war. What our leaders say has nothing to do with what happens on the ground in Iraq, and this year’s confident pronouncements are likely to be just as correct as last year’s. Our leaders are irrecoverably lost, and it doesn’t hurt to keep pointing it out.
While I wholly endorse Bray’s suggestion and will be observing C.D. Alston Day with due gravity, I would point out that if we were serious about commemorating all the “spectacularly obtuse” statements offered up on behalf of this bovine war, the year would soon enough resemble the Catholic liturgical calendar.