NEWS: Bush Installs Military Puppet for Iraq

Legionnaire

While I think it is great that you write and contribute to the site as often as you do, I question your assessment of calling LTG Petraeus a puppet. Calling him a loyalist goes without saying - every member of the military swears an oath to defend the constitution and to obey the orders of the President of the United States. Calling him a military puppet, however, demands some explanation.

You say Congress and the military are both against a troop surge as if this were a unanimous consensus. It also seems like you place a high premium on the saliency of their input, as if they are subject matter experts. There are probably a few people in Congress with backgrounds in the CIA or NSA who have some good experience in counterinsurgency. There are more than a handful in the military who have good experience in the same. The fact of the matter is, however, there is no consensus in any governmental agency at this point.

I also think it is important that you take a step back from Iraq and compare it to the last century of warfare. You accuse proponents of the troop surge of using it as a magical fix. Call me Vegas, but I were a betting man, I would say Petraeus is not looking for a magical fix. Instead, I'm pretty sure he realizes insurgencies are measured in decades, not years. China's 20th century insurgent war lasted three decades. Vietnam's started long before we got there and continued long after we left. Malaysia's lasted for nearly fifteen years. So, rather than looking for a magical fix, I would imagine he is trying to create the conditions for some sort of incramental change.

As for what that change is and how LTG Petreaus intends to acheive it, I guess we will have to wait until he publishes his strategy. I've spoken with the man enough to know that he is not a military puppet. He is incredibly intelligent, forward thinking and wants nothing more than to set the conditions for a pluralistic society to take root in Iraq. Whether that can ever be acheived is debatable. The fact of the matter is America broke Iraq, so naturally, we now have the responsibility of fixing it. That responsibility has been passed from the President to LTG Petraeus, and I'm sure he will do everything within his power to do so.

While recognizing the difficulty of his task, I also ask you to look at his track record. Northern Iraq is doing quite well. Suleimani has a functioning university, and both the former and Erbil have daily flights connecting them to Europe and any number of Arab countries. Not a single coalition forces soldier has been killed in the Kurdish controlled region. Kirkuk is rapidly expanding its oil production, and Mosul, albeit suffering some violence, is doing quite well. Every country needs a growth pole; northern Iraq seems to be filling this role quite nicely. The area LTG Petraeus administered over has a an unemployment rate nearly half that of the national average.

Again, Iraq will not improve over night. It will take decades, not years for a resolution. Tal Afar, while an example of a successful counterinsurgency effort, gets next to no funding from the national government for reconstruction because its population is Yazeedi. As its economy is largely agrarian based, it is unlikely it will generate that revenue on its own. Additionally, LTG Petraeus must contend with the Al Anbar province (Ar Ramadi, Fallujah, Al Hit, Habbiniyah) and an unemplyment rate that lies somewhere between 70 and 90%. More U.S. soldiers died in Ramadi than in any other Iraqi city in 2006. Of course the sectarian violence in the captital is also an enormous problem, but the newspapers do a pretty good job of showing that.

I just wanted to point out that given LTG Petraeus' track record and the broad generalizations you used for evidence, your criticism seems a bit thin. At least give him a chance to outline his strategy, and then refute his points drawing from historical precedent and your knowledge of counterinsurgent warfare.

Please keep writing. I enjoy reading your column and look forward to reading your future contributions.

Respectfully,

two7sclash

Don't worry. Soon everyone will have the chance to put another puppet in charge and we can all bitch about what that person is doing wrong.

Do us a favor and stay in the UK please.

So much for the war in Iraq looking just like a comma in the history books.

LTG Petraeus is one of the only commanders who has been active in the field in Iraq since the beginning of the war. During and after the invasion he commanded the 101st ABN/AA and was promoted to run the Iraqi armed forces training program. He has spent more time on the ground with Iraqis, arguably, than any other general officer in Iraq. This gives him a rather unique position to be in as a commander in Iraq. As one of the ONLY general officers who has spent ALL HIS LIFE in Iraq since the invasion, I'm sure he has insights that, amazingly enough, the Congress we constantly mock probably doesn't have. Everyone is still failing to notice the difference between a short-term troop surge (which Iraqis, American commanders in the Middle East, and Congress all don't want) compared to a general long-term increase in the number of American soldiers in Iraq (which Iraqi leadership and American commanders in the Middle East, as well as a significant portion of Congress do want).

This can't and shouldn't be compared to the American combatant escalation that occurred in Vietnam in 1964-65. In that war, the US was just replacing the ARVN who wouldn't and couldn't fight off the Viet Minh in the South. (Yeah yeah Viet Cong/Minh are "technically" different until you study Vietnamese history.) This is simply increasing the number of combat troops (Coalition and Iraqi) in-country so the nation can have better security over a wider area. More troops allows wider pacification and stabilization which, ultimately, is what Iraq needs and most Iraqis want.

Oh, and I'll call murdering the President "patriotism" the day that you call murdering the Prime Minister "patriotism," Trahern. Mind your own fucked-up leader's business . . . we'll mind ours. Just because the religious right managed to fuck it up for everyone for four more years doesn't mean we don't all have in mind that we can change things as soon as Captain Dummerica is done.

Can someone please impeach this guy???

At our store we had special sales for indictments *scooter libbey* The Dems taking back the house, and Rummey stepping down. I imagine we will have a HUGE sale when Bush is done...and an even bigger one if he gets impeached ...Oh the fantasy