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)

Nomination of LTG Odierno for MNF-I commander

Petraeus says by fall he may seek Iraq troop cuts

Once again, the military is rewarding failure. Some prior examples:

1. LTG Chiarelli to MNC-I commander after mixed results as 1st Cavalry Division commander in Baghdad.

2. GEN Casey to Army Chief of Staff after a numbing performance as MNF-I commander.

3. LTG Odierno to MNC-I commander after using heavy handed tactics and overflooding the prisons at Abu Gharib when he was commander of 4th Infantry Division.

Now, once again, LTG Odierno and LTG Chiarelli have been nominated for promotions. LTG Odierno has been nominated for promotion to general and to become MNF-I commander, meanwhile LTG Chiarelli has been nominated for promotion to general and to Army Vice Chief of Staff. How much does one have to fail at the top levels in the Army in order to be forced to retire? LTG Odierno and GEN Casey are lauded as counterinsurgency converts, but where were they before counterinsurgency became the term de jour in military parlance? They were flooding prisons and getting mixed results as commanders. Wouldn't one expect a career Army officer to recognize an insurgency when he sees one instead of taking years and thousands of American lives? GEN Casey, LTG Odierno, and LTG Chiarelli's wives must run a mean officers' wives club.

GEN Petraeus and LTG Odierno were division commanders under the Peter Principle proving LTG Sanchez when our overarching strategy in Iraq was to kill and capture bandits and denying there was an insurgency... Odierno did exactly what Sanchez wanted - kill and capture bandits. Odierno excelled at the capture part and overflooded Abu Gharib (remember that?), while GEN Petraeus did his own thing up north (think back to the often-mocked "winning hearts and minds" mantra). Then Odierno was promoted to lieutenant general and suddenly became a counterinsurgency convert under his former peer Petraeus after a career as a "big guns go boom" artillery officer. On a side note to those who hate "legs," how is Odierno non-airborne qualified after spending years at Ft. Bragg? Meanwhile, a PhD holding, Tal-Afar saving, counterinsurgency expert like COL McMaster was passed over for brigadier general twice (H.R. McMaster Passed Over - Reverse Peter Principle?), and a career green beret like LTG McChrystal is not given MNC-I or MNF-I command. GEN Petraeus can only do so much with a sloppy joe officer corps above the rank of the few good captains that stayed in the Army. I wonder what maneuver Odierno, the inadaptable artillery officer, will make after MNF-I command? I wonder how many hours a day he will pull GEN Petraeus away from his strategic tasks (e.g. drug trade, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, etc.) as CENTCOM commander asking him exactly what to do every step of the way as MNF-I commander?

**NOTE: This piece was written prior to COL McMaster being picked up for brigadier general (See H.R. McMaster Leads New Crop of Generals) and immediately after it was leaked that LTG Odierno was being nominated for MNF-I command