At a May 25 briefing sponsored by the Straus Military Reform Project, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Chet Richards and retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, presented two different perspectives on the war in Iraq, and yet came to the same conclusion: the occupation in Iraq is the source of the opposition against it; it is doomed to failure, and continuing it only makes America’s position in the region, and the world, weaker. These two separate presentations are summarized and their briefing slides are made available below.
Assessment of the War in Iraq
Col. Chet Richards’ briefing explains why the war in Iraq continues to go so poorly, and why the war is now lost, and – indeed – has been lost from the start. Richards points out that President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have addressed every element of what constitutes “grand strategy,” but, unfortunately, for each component, they got it exactly wrong: their actions have weakened, not built up, American morale and support for the war; they have helped enemies pump up their own morale and motivation; they have fractured the alliances of the United States with traditional partners while at the same time facilitating the enemies’ cohesion, and they have failed to win over, if not actually alienate, many of those who were neutral to America’s cause - while in some respects making all too many of the uncommitted sympathetic to elements of the enemies’ cause.
Col. Douglas Macgregor argues that the American failures in Iraq have been at both the strategic and operational levels. Both Rumsfeld and Bush failed to recognize or act on realities in Iraq and instead acted based on ill-informed, preconceived notions – a finding Richards shares. Moreover, the U.S. Army’s leadership failed to oppose fundamentally unrealistic directives from civilians, and it did not carry out operations in a manner optimized for strategic and operational success. Indeed, the very nature of the American occupation of Iraq has become the primary source of the opposition to it and the very reason why it will fail. Macgregor concludes that it seems both the Army and America’s political leaders have learned nothing from their failures and remain poised to repeat the experience in a future conflict – whether initiated by the United States or others.
Both of these unhappy, professional assessments observe – contrary to prevailing conventional wisdom among critics – that a larger American military presence in Iraq now or in 2003 would not have avoided the problems that emerged and will not repair them now. Both colonels stress that all the undesirable trends will continue as long as the American occupation of Iraq continues.
Richards’ presentation is available by clicking here.
Macgregor’s presentation is available by clicking here.
Winslow T. Wheeler
Director
Straus Military Reform Project
Center for Defense Information
202 797-5271 in DC
301 840-1362 in MD
winslowwheeler@comcast.net