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The Rock of the Euphrates

By Richard S. Lowry

Early last year, at the beginning of “The Surge,” it became apparent that the Multi-National Division – Baghdad command staff would be stretched to its limit trying to command and control all the additional forces being brought into the Baghdad area. So, the Multi-National Corps decided to bring in another division headquarters to spread the workload. Since a large number of “Surge” forces would be coming from Fort Stewart, the logical choice was to bring Major General Rick Lynch’s 3rd Infantry Division command forward.

Richard S. Lowry is the author of The Gulf War Chronicles and Marines in the Garden of Eden.

Major General Rick Lynch is a West Point graduate with a MIT masters degree in robotics. Over the years, Lynch has been an Army engineer, armor commander and cavalry trooper. Prior to his assignment to the 3rd Infantry Division, he served on the Multi-National Force – Iraq staff as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Effects and the MNF-I spokesman. Major General Lynch was superbly qualified to lead the new division-level command.

Major General Rick Lynch

The Multi-National Division – Center headquarters was established in the first week of April and it assumed responsibility for the strategic belts just south of Baghdad. The first thing Lynch asked for was his Aviation Brigade. Soon, the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade was added to the surge of forces. General Lynch’s Dog Face Soldiers were in place by June. They immediately started wreaking havoc on the enemy in the belts south of Baghdad. Starting with Operation Marne Torch, named after the invasion of North Africa in World War II, they have conducted seven division-level combat operations as well as multiple smaller brigade and battalion operations. They have made a big difference in an area once considered to be a major insurgent thoroughfare. Lynch and his soldiers have dislodged the enemy and are constantly working to bring security to the southern suburbs of Baghdad.

The division just started their latest operation, Marne Thunderbolt, to flush out the remaining al-Qaeda insurgents in southern Arab Jabour. Along with these new combat operations, the division is shifting its focus to stability operations and reconstruction. They are digging wells, opening medical clinics, providing micro-loans to small businesses and working to reestablish industry. They are also working with the Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) groups to build participation in community government. Roads are being paved and new combat outposts are being built.

Today, General Lynch spoke of the CLCs in his area of responsibility; “They are developing governing councils that are made of men from both sects.” National reconciliation will be achieved from the ground up. The Iraqi people must come together at the local level, elect representatives and then make it clear to the national government that they want to live together in peace. Only then, will we see signs of national reconciliation. Democratic governments must be built from the bottom-up, not from the top-down.

General Lynch is focusing on working from the bottom-up. “I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what is going on at the national level. But at the local level, what I am seeing is the Sunni and Shia population merging and identifying themselves as Iraqi.” Al-Anbar Province may have stolen the news in the last several months as a model of success, but success in the mixed-sect Provinces south of Baghdad is a much more significant event. And progress in the southern belts is key to our success in Iraq. This year Task Force Marne will deal a crushing blow to the extremists by bringing hope for a better future to the people of central Iraq. General Lynch concluded his participation in today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable with an upbeat, yet cautionary statement; “I have never been more optimistic, but at the same time, I am still realistic…The enemy is still out there and he’s still got a vote.”

Richard S. Lowry is the author of The Gulf War Chronicles and Marines in the Garden of Eden.

January 14, 2008 12:02 PM News From Iraq