Friday, April 27, 2007
Comment from the troops
A failure in generalship
By Lt. Col. Paul Yingling
"For the second time in a generation, the United States faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of an insurgency. In April 1975, the U.S. fled the Republic of Vietnam, abandoning our allies to their fate at the hands of North Vietnamese communists. In 2007, Iraq's grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends risk of an even wider and more destructive regional war.
These debacles are not attributable to individual failures, but rather to a crisis in an entire institution: America's general officer corps. America's generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy. The argument that follows consists of three elements. First, generals have a responsibility to society to provide policymakers with a correct estimate of strategic probabilities. Second, America's generals in Vietnam and Iraq failed to perform this responsibility. Third, remedying the crisis in American generalship requires the intervention of Congress."
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1 comment:
I am not an expert on this kind of thing, but my humble observation suggests that this is less a generals' failure or a failure of leadership but more of a failure of commitment of the Iraqi people. If we desired to conquer there would be no stopping our military, but we wish to bring the Iraqi people the type of freedom that we have. Unfortunately, the religious mind set, fear, and distrust in that type of system keeps it from happening.
I believe we have to give the Iraqi leadership an ultimatem. They must come to speed in setting the course for their country or suffer the consequences of not.
I understand the frustration of Congress with this "war" but I do not beleive that giving a date for withdrawl is the answer nor very prudent. I think instead they should, along with the President, pressure the leadership of Iraq to take this struggle in their own hands. The transfer has to be complete and we must leave them either with the ability to defend themselve or not. That will be up to the Iraqi's.
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