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Flag Officer Conference and Gen McCaffrey’s AAR
By Maj P
Seeing Big John’s post below reminded me of a post I’ve had back-burnered for too long. A few months ago I received a forwarded email with an after-action report by General Barry McCaffrey, concerning his trip to Iraq in April. You can find it here.
The CFR note says that “His findings are mixed.” I didn’t get that impression, but I’ll let you make your own judgment.
Much of what the General said stood out; I found a few points in particular worth noting, in light of recent events and John’s post on the Council of the Elders.
1. It’s the US armed forces and the intelligence community, alone and unafraid in the war effort. Save for “a handful of brilliant, courageous, and dedicated Foreign Service Officers” [I met one over there, he’s right] every other segment of the federal government is UA, AWOL, whatever you want to call it. The result is a fragmented effort. Military force can only go so far in doing the job; others have to pitch in.
2. The press and the military are in an increasingly adversarial relationship. This needs to be stopped, and the military should take the chance and welcome embeds and visiting reporters. The information war is critical, and the story can’t be told if it’s not being reported. Hold the press to standards, but don’t shut them out.
3. Bet on an Iraqi unity government succeeding. Note that he said this a couple months ago. Now that AMZ is DOA, what do we see? We see a unity government emerging, and looking increasingly strong. The General pegs this correctly is a “central requirement.”
4. The foreign fighters have failed strategically and operationally, although tactically they will still be a problem. The Sunni insurgent bloc is now no longer monolithic; knock the foreign fighters out and the problem takes on a different aspect, one that would be more amenable to a solution worked out and imposed by an Iraqi unity government.
5. We’re not out of the woods yet, we have much work to do. Significantly, he avoids the woe-is-me/what-an-awful-mess-we-have hand wringing that seems to be in vogue these days: “There is no reason why the U.S. cannot achieve our objectives in Iraq. Our aim must be to create a viable federal state under the rule of law which does not: enslave its own people, threaten its neighbors, or produce weapons of mass destruction. [Brilliant.] This is a ten year task. We should be able to draw down most of our combat forces in 3-5 years. We have few alternatives to the current US strategy which is painfully but gradually succeeding. This is now a race against time. Do we have the political will, do we have the military power, will we spend the resources required to achieve our aims?”
Do we indeed? That is the question. I know the military has the will. For everyone else, I cannot answer.
I recommend the whole report; there is more to it but I believe I have extracted some of the more interesting points. I think General McCaffrey definitely “gets it,” and his assessments are all the more salient because he wrote them two months ago when things were looking decidedly less sunny.
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Comments
If you want to fill in hte missing pieces from the AAR read this op-ed by the Iraqi Prime Minister.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2217612,00.html
It was also published under different names in the Washington Post and the New York Post. Maliki's article picks up just where the AAR leaves off. Combined they are good cause for cautious optimism.
On the press and its propensity of accepting hostile information operations as the gospel truth, that isn't going to change until a receiver takes over the remains of the New York Times.
But that will probably take a few more years of Pinch's management genius.
Gents,
Went to the site and read the complete report. I couldn't disagree more with GEN M's assessment of the military/media relationship from this point: it ain't because we're deciding not to talk to the media. Yes, I agree it's more adversarial, but more adversarial than what? There is almost no way the relationship could have gotten any better after combat operations, so it was inevitable that it would get "worse". But I have to say it ain't for lack of trying. I saw the same thing in Kosovo on a smaller scale. PAOs and Units are busting ass to beg reporters to come and cover anything, but reporters 1-by and large don't want to do anything really risky (yes, there are a few), 2- don't want to leave the comfort of the hotel, even if it was safe, and 3-don't want to cover anything, and I mean anything, that might show good news, improvement in daily life, or hope.
Take whatever Barry McCaffery says with a grain a salt. He has a history of telling lies for political gain. I know because I chased drug runners all over south and central america when he was the SouthCom commander. He knew everything I knew and more. So when he went to work for Bill Clinton as Drug Czar, he had already seen that the Mexican government and Mexican armed forces were part of the drug trade. But his job was not really to stop the drug trade in the US, his job was to do what Bill Clinton needed done and that was to certify that Mexico was doing all it could to stop drug traffic, and that he did. In this way the banks that held Mexican bonds (Rubin's banks) would not hold defaulted bonds. The US taxpayer would bail out the Mexican bonds. In the mean time, good DEA officers were being killed, Mexican narcs were being killed, US Customs and Military assets were being wasted and the drugs just keep coming. Barry McCaffery is a known liar for political gain. He, like so many others, was once a national hero, but went to Washington where he lost it all for sake of his ego. He is a disgrace and joke to those who worked in the counter narcotics business when he was drug czar.
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My only comment is a reflection on what the General says about the press. To be honest, I agree. There is one addition, do not expect more of the press than yourselves. This is not just to the military, but to all members of our Constitutional branches of this GREAT NATION. This is truly where they all derive their authority, including the military. We do not demand respect, we command it. How do we command respect? It is just like freedom, it is not free! We earn it everyday, in or out of uniform or office. This would include the members of staff. This loyalty goes both up and down the chain, right on up to POTUS. This is what the Constitution on the United States dictates. We all swore an oath to these concepts. Respectfully, "Grumpy"