Tensions Stoked Between Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis

There is no surprise here. As predicted, Northern Iraq is falling apart despite the great work Hannibal, Murdock, and B.A. Baracus, did up there in 2005-2006. Although it was recently viewed as a pleasant, up and coming area with a diverse population and a Whole Foods and Starbucks in every town, it is far from it.

American officials have long feared a military conflict in the north, where Arabs and Kurds have competing claims to territory and have legions of trained men under arms. The struggle for power has also fueled the insurgency in the north, giving groups like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia an opening to appear to back an Arab cause. And it comes as American combat troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June.

I have argued that this is mostly due to troop level drawdowns in the area. Anyhow, here is what I wrote on September 17, 2008:
U.S. Soldiers battling hard in Iraqi city

Meanwhile back in Iraq...and my A-TEAM

LTG Jacoby, MNC-I Commander

LTG Austin has relinquished command of MNC-I to LTG Jacoby, an officer with no experience in Iraq and is famous for being the Bush administration's Afghanistan cover-up general while serving as ADC-M & ADC-S in Afghanistan from July 2002 to February 2005. Hooah! Doesn't the Army have a (competent & scandal-free) three-star general that has served in Iraq to command MNC-I? At this point, you would think so...

On another note... ...when are we going to give BG MacFarland, BG Shields, and COL(P) McMaster divisions to command and put in our A-TEAM? In my mind, they do not need to spend any time in an ADC slot - their brigade commands in Iraq proved they are ready to command a division, but, alas, the Army is still into box checks for officer career paths. These three officers should be given division commands immediately in either theater. Despite being Armor Officers, MacFarland was responsible for the "Sunni Awakening" in MND-W, and McMaster saved Tal-Afar using counterinsurgency techniques in MND-NW / MND-W. Meanwhile, Shields led his 172nd SBCT through a 16 month tour in Iraq in which he commanded troops in MND-W, MND-N, and MND-B. Having served under him, I know that he "gets" counterinsurgency. His published counterinsurgency reading list for officers/NCOs was extensive and he, good God, had an uncanny ability to remember everything about his troop leaders - even the name of a lowly lieutenant frustrated with how the war was going. Combined, McMaster, MacFarland, and Shields, set the stage for the surge's tactical "success." They took their own initiative (like MG Petraeus under LTG Sanchez in OIF-I) without any guidance from the incompetent MNF-I commander they were serving under, GEN Casey. Their units made limited gains in Iraq in 2005-2006 despite media reports only showing casualties and politicians claiming that the war was already lost. These three brigade commanders "saved" Iraq and saved Casey's pathetic career; they even got him a promotion to Army Chief of Staff.

Anyhow, hopefully we can get these three officers back into the fight soon - they have been sitting on the bench too long. They truly are the A-TEAM...

MacFarland can be Hannibal and lead his troops with his "unorthodox" counterinsurgency techniques and cigar chomping...

Hannibal

Meanwhile, McMaster can change the R to an M and play H.M. Murdock. H.R. McMaster's Ph.D. jives well with Murdock's encyclopedic knowledge of random facts. Also, his escape from Army Officer career abyss, partially caused by penning a book that was critical of Army leadership, was similar to how Murdock escaped the psychiatric ward.

Murdock

Finally, Shields, being in the best (hockey) shape of the three, can be B.A. Baracus aka Mr. T. Being a big Notre Dame fan might mean that he has a gold crucifix as big as Mr. T's, although highly doubtful...

B.A. Baracus (on right)