Administration Officials Need to Come Clean with a Meaningful and Manageable Plan for Iraq that Americans Can Support
By Matt Rowe, Executive Director, WinTheGWOT.org
Our political leaders and senior military commanders need to come clean with us about the war in Iraq. It should be obvious by now that overly confident positions and regular statements about progress and potential progress in the war are no longer acceptable to the American people. We have all but lost complete faith in anything we hear, and the well timed “reminders” from Bush Administration officials about the threat from Al Qaeda are no longer effective. US involvement in the war in Iraq must still be ended in some positive way—likely by a complete or partial withdrawal of US troops over a significant period of time, but the Administration must present the world with a meaningful and manageable plan going forward—a plan that is free of lofty rhetoric and fear mongering. The same is true for the war in Afghanistan. Americans do not need to be threatened into support—we need to be convinced that the expense in lives and treasure is worthwhile.
In Bob Woodward’s July 12, 2007 Washington Post article, CIA Said Instability Seemed 'Irreversible' he quotes CIA Director Michael V. Hayden on November 13, 2006 giving the following statement to the Iraq Study Group, "…the inability of the [Iraqi] government to govern seems irreversible," and Hayden went on to say that he could not "…point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around." Being even more direct, Hayden stated, "The government is unable to govern…we have spent a lot of energy and treasure creating a government that is balanced, and it cannot function."
There appears to be some disparity amongst various members and staff of the ISG who listened to Hayden as to how starkly he presented the situation in Iraq, but most seem to agree that he was very somber in his assessment. According to Woodward, “In the eight months since the interview, neither Hayden nor any other high-ranking administration official has publicly described the Iraqi government in the uniformly negative terms that the CIA director used in his closed-door briefing.”
Of course this is the same Administration that left General Peter Pace, USMC, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs even after he stated in early August of 2006 that just one year earlier he never would have expected Iraq to devolve into a civil war. If he really believed that, then he was the only person to be surprised by the situation.
General David Petraeus, the ground commander in Iraq who is probably the best man for the job, believes that he can end the war given enough time and both military and Iraqi political support. He has made it clear that only the successful application of both political and non-military aspects of Iraqi society can end the civil conflict there. The US military can only attempt to stabilize the country long enough for that to take place, but under no circumstances can the military do it alone. Of course, this assumes that the Iraqis eventually decide to reconcile.
Unfortunately, General Petraeus will not likely have what he needs given the political situation in the US and the intensity of the ongoing hostilities between Iraqi factions. It appears that recently retired Army General John Abizaid, who would have been General Petraeus’ boss, saw this writing on the wall. Abizaid is of middle-eastern descent, speaks fluent Arabic, and had operated flawlessly in Iraq at various levels of command. He had also spent time in Lebanon as the Operations Officer for a UN Observation Group. General Abizaid is even alleged to have gone so far as to threaten to retire if he were not chosen to be the commander of CENTCOM, rather than accept a much more senior staff position in Washington from then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He was very likely the best officer for the job, and Rumsfeld apparently conceded, but nonetheless, it was probably too late to accomplish what he really needed to. Abizaid may have realized that nothing he could do would counter the ineptitude of the Bush Administration, and one of our most talented generals who could be effectively supporting General Petraeus right now, simply retired from active duty—a tremendous loss to the war effort.
It is time for our political leaders and senior military commanders to step up and call the situation as they really see it—as it really is—and not in the overly optimistic terms they feel necessary to maintain morale and political support. Americans are tougher than that, and they need the truth. Americans and more and more of their political representatives have irrevocably lost faith in the Administration owing to its officials providing consistently bad and difficult to swallow situational assessments. It is still possible to end the war in Iraq in some successful way, but we have to win back the support of the Iraqi people—and that will take time. Thus, in order to get the time we need, we must first win back the trust of the American people by changing their perception via the truth and an understandable plan that is meaningful and manageable.
In Bob Woodward’s July 12, 2007 Washington Post article, CIA Said Instability Seemed 'Irreversible' he quotes CIA Director Michael V. Hayden on November 13, 2006 giving the following statement to the Iraq Study Group, "…the inability of the [Iraqi] government to govern seems irreversible," and Hayden went on to say that he could not "…point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around." Being even more direct, Hayden stated, "The government is unable to govern…we have spent a lot of energy and treasure creating a government that is balanced, and it cannot function."
There appears to be some disparity amongst various members and staff of the ISG who listened to Hayden as to how starkly he presented the situation in Iraq, but most seem to agree that he was very somber in his assessment. According to Woodward, “In the eight months since the interview, neither Hayden nor any other high-ranking administration official has publicly described the Iraqi government in the uniformly negative terms that the CIA director used in his closed-door briefing.”
Of course this is the same Administration that left General Peter Pace, USMC, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs even after he stated in early August of 2006 that just one year earlier he never would have expected Iraq to devolve into a civil war. If he really believed that, then he was the only person to be surprised by the situation.
General David Petraeus, the ground commander in Iraq who is probably the best man for the job, believes that he can end the war given enough time and both military and Iraqi political support. He has made it clear that only the successful application of both political and non-military aspects of Iraqi society can end the civil conflict there. The US military can only attempt to stabilize the country long enough for that to take place, but under no circumstances can the military do it alone. Of course, this assumes that the Iraqis eventually decide to reconcile.
Unfortunately, General Petraeus will not likely have what he needs given the political situation in the US and the intensity of the ongoing hostilities between Iraqi factions. It appears that recently retired Army General John Abizaid, who would have been General Petraeus’ boss, saw this writing on the wall. Abizaid is of middle-eastern descent, speaks fluent Arabic, and had operated flawlessly in Iraq at various levels of command. He had also spent time in Lebanon as the Operations Officer for a UN Observation Group. General Abizaid is even alleged to have gone so far as to threaten to retire if he were not chosen to be the commander of CENTCOM, rather than accept a much more senior staff position in Washington from then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He was very likely the best officer for the job, and Rumsfeld apparently conceded, but nonetheless, it was probably too late to accomplish what he really needed to. Abizaid may have realized that nothing he could do would counter the ineptitude of the Bush Administration, and one of our most talented generals who could be effectively supporting General Petraeus right now, simply retired from active duty—a tremendous loss to the war effort.
It is time for our political leaders and senior military commanders to step up and call the situation as they really see it—as it really is—and not in the overly optimistic terms they feel necessary to maintain morale and political support. Americans are tougher than that, and they need the truth. Americans and more and more of their political representatives have irrevocably lost faith in the Administration owing to its officials providing consistently bad and difficult to swallow situational assessments. It is still possible to end the war in Iraq in some successful way, but we have to win back the support of the Iraqi people—and that will take time. Thus, in order to get the time we need, we must first win back the trust of the American people by changing their perception via the truth and an understandable plan that is meaningful and manageable.
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