Trust Airborne or Brookings ?

[Lanya]

Defense Tech
Trust Airborne or Brookings Institute?
Paul Rieckhoff | August 21, 2007
This Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed that gave a harsh assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq.

The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere. What soldiers call the ?battle space? remains the same, with changes only at the margins. It is crowded with actors who do not fit neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen, criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the questionable loyalties and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers? expense.

The piece strongly contradicted last month?s optimistic analysis of the war by Brookings scholars Michael O?Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack.  Admittedly, their eight-day guided tour was handled by the Pentagon.  But their years of study of the Middle East surely meant they wouldn?t be taken in by a Department of Defense dog-and-pony show, right?  And could yesterday?s op-ed possibly come from a source more reputable than the Brookings Institution?  What are the authors? credentials, exactly?

    Buddhika Jayamaha is an Army specialist. Wesley D. Smith is a sergeant. Jeremy Roebuck is a sergeant. Omar Mora is a sergeant. Edward Sandmeier is a sergeant. Yance T. Gray is a staff sergeant. Jeremy A. Murphy is a staff sergeant.

This op-ed was written by seven American soldiers who are serving in Iraq right now.  They describe themselves as ?responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home.?  Sadly, one of the authors, Staff Sergeant Murphy, a Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head before the piece was published. (He is being flown to the U.S. and is expected to survive.)

Consider the tremendous amount of moral courage that it takes to put oneself on the line like this.  Whether you agree or disagree with the stance these soldiers take, hats off to them for having the guts to write this piece.  Only a person with exceptional love for his or her country would take this kind of risk. And because I know people will ask, I think these soldiers will be fine under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for two reasons: 1) they included a disclaimer, and 2) they didn?t disclose any information that would compromise OPSEC (operational security).  There is always room in the military for professional dissent.

And right now, we need their experience and opinions.  These guys spent a year in Iraq, not eight days, which is why they can read between the lines on Pentagon statistics.  For instance, when the Pentagon says, as they told O?Hanlon and Pollack, ?more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners,? the truth on the ground can be far different.  As the soldiers recount:

    A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb? The truth is that battalion commanders, even if well meaning, have little to no influence over the thousands of obstinate men under them, in an incoherent chain of command, who are really loyal only to their militias.

Bottom line: No scholarly articles can replace real boots-on-the-ground knowledge.  Participating in a heavily secured, carefully orchestrated sight-seeing visit to Iraq does not make you a military expert any more than a trip to Yankee stadium qualifies one to be a baseball broadcaster for ESPN. That should be obvious by now. 

But the media continually treats troops as wallpaper footage to run in the background while the latest talking-head pseudo-expert pontificates.  And the White House hasn?t learned the lesson, either, judging by the so-called ?Petraeus report? coming out in September.  The White House announced last week that this report won?t actually be written by Gen. Petraeus.  Once again experienced military leaders will be overruled by air-conditioned bureaucrats and Beltway experts.

So let?s call the Petraeus Report what it is: Yet Another White House Plan.  Of course, those don?t have a great track record, especially when it comes to assessing the situation on the ground.  In the meantime, as more Americans and Iraqi civilians die waiting for someone in power to listen to the troops on the ground, someone should call the Brookings Institution ? I can think of seven sharp 82nd Airborne soldiers who are getting back from Iraq soon, and they could use some comfy think tank fellowships.
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.

Copyright 2007 Paul Rieckhoff. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,146609,00.html?wh=news

[BT]

    Baqubah to resume local food production
    First large shipment of grain to Diyala mill celebrated

    Story by Sgt. Patrick Lair
    Photos by PV2 Kirby Rider and Sgt. Patrick Lair
    Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
    BAQUBAH, IRAQ? After the fight to retake an Iraqi city is over, the struggle to reconstruct a functioning government is the fist order of business.

    That?s why U.S. and Iraqi forces were excited recently to witness local trucks arrive, accompanied by the Iraqi Army, at a Baqubah flour mill with 560 tons of imported wheat to feed the people of Diyala province.

    ?This is one more piece to the larger puzzle of providing normalcy here,? said Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commanding officer of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. ?It?s probably the most important thing we?ve done.?

    The grain, imported from the U.S., will be milled, sacked and distributed to the local population as part of the Public Distribution System, an Iraqi program dating back to the 1980?s. The program began during the Iraq-Iran War as a way for the government to provide necessities such as fuel, chai, sugar, flour, rice, tomatoes, soap and cooking oil to the people who need it. An estimated 45 percent of the people depend on these services.

    When Al-Qaida took over Baqubah, the provincial capital, the distribution system largely collapsed. Truckers were afraid to haul the food, workers were afraid to show up to work, the mill closed and food prices soared, Johnson said.

    ?From our perspective, this city was done,? said Diyala province Assistant Governor Amed, who withholds his full name for security reasons.

    U.S. forces cleared the city of enemy insurgents earlier this year, often engaging in heavy combat operations from one street to the next. Iraqi and U.S. officials immediately set about restoring essential services and attempting to rebuild the people?s trust in local government.

    ?This city is making the transition from a ghost town to what it is today. What?s been done is phenomenal,? Amed said. In addition to autonomous food production, other changes can be seen. Sixty-seven stores in the downtown market have recently reopened their shutters. Water and sewer lines were repaired by the municipal government without U.S. financial support. Decreasing fuel prices have led to a rise in civilian vehicle traffic. Women, once forced by Al-Qaida to cover themselves in black veils, move about town in colorful clothing and families walk freely through the streets.

    While the fight against armed combatants is highly visible, the fight to restore order often takes place behind closed doors, Johnson said. ?The biggest problem has been our lack of understanding of how Iraq works,? the lieutenant colonel said. ?Our ignorance of the system undermined our ability to provide what the people expected.?

    The system of what people expect was learned through long conversations with local sheikhs and government officials, often in smoke-filled offices over cups of chai or seated around the family living rooms of local leaders.

    ?Dialogue is the key to what we?re doing here,? Johnson said. ?But this is huge. Now that they see they can provide for themselves, we?re not needed here anymore.?
    The Baqubah mill is expected to employ around 100 local workers in addition to truck drivers. At full production, the mill is capable of processing 200 tons of grain per day.

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/public-affairs-baqubah-food.htm

[Michael Tee]

This kinda thing is EXACTLY like the crap the Pentagon used to grind out for Viet Nam - - Village Finally Self-Sustaining With New Fish Pond Built by Off-Duty GIs in Spare Time . . .

It's ludicrous - - invade their country, kill hundreds of thousands of them, kidnap them, imprison them, torture them - - but give them a new fish pond and they'll love ya forever.

Dream on, BT.

[BT]

Dream on, BT.

Don't let it get you down, Mikey.

It's just good news from Iraq .

It's not like Hillary will say the surge is working




oh wait......

[Michael Tee]

Dream on, BT.