Casey and Khalilzad’s Press Conference is More Nonsense

General George W. Casey, Jr., the top US commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador in Iraq, held a press conference yesterday to shore up support for the war. It is astonishing that, having fought in Iraq longer than the US fought Hitler, America faces any opposition there at all. However, the strategy has been wrong from day one, nor has it evolved properly. And as a result, His Excellency the Ambassador’s best line was “success in Iraq is possible and can be achieved on a realistic timetable.” Sure, it’s a slam dunk, a cakewalk, victory in Iraqnam is just around the corner.

Actually, Mr. Khalilzad laid out what is wrong with the Bush administration’s actions since it started rattling sabers back in 2002 – an inability to digest facts and focus on what is important. He said, “During Saddam, thousands upon thousands of Iraqis were killed as a result of a government policy. The government, which has a responsibility for protecting the citizens, was in fact killing ... thousands upon thousands of Iraqis. Now these killings are taking place by the terrorists, by death squads.” Well, one can only think what a relief that must be for the bereaved.

Meanwhile, General Casey looked the world in the eye, or at least the camera, and reminded everyone that the US hasn’t lost a single engagement in Iraq since the unpleasantness started almost four years ago. The same was true in Vietnam, and like in Vietnam, that is entirely irrelevant. Winning conventional battles in a counterinsurgency doesn’t matter. And fighting a counterinsurgency in the midst of a civil war is a doomed prospect as well. The general said that the tactics are constantly evolving, and he’s right. However, the tactics aren’t at issue; the grand strategy (which he doesn’t set, Mr. Bush does) is wrong, and it has been wrong since at least the fall of Baghdad.

Counterinsurgency requires minimal use of force, long-term deployment of troops, small teams living among the people, and a familiarity with the language and the culture. That isn’t how the US is fighting this one. Above all, the people are what military strategists call the center of gravity -- those characteristics, capabilities, or sources of power from which a military force derives its freedom of action, physical strength, or will to fight. Thus, all the jabbering about hearts and minds, and yet, some of the Iraqi people are prepared to die to kill American soldiers.

Unfortunately, the civil war in Iraq means fighting a counterinsurgency can’t happen either. There are no fewer than 23 different militias in Iraq. What wins the support of one group loses the support of another. So, the US wants the Green Zone government to reign them in, disarm them. Well, if the Iraqi army wants to take the weapons away from them, one is certain the response from the Sadr and Badr Brigades will be the same as King Leonidas gave the Persians before Thermopylae – “Come take them.” The Green Zone government wound up having to negotiate over the insurgent capture of Amara last week. In a straight fight, the Iraqi Army wouldn’t even cover the point-spread, let alone win. Too many troops won't obey the order to fight against their co-religionists.

Ambassador Khalilzad was right about one thing, “Iraqi leaders must step up to achieve key political milestones. Key political forces must make difficult decisions in the coming weeks to reach agreement on a number of issues.” Perhaps, he found his copy of Clausewitz. The question is whether 140,000 US troops in Iraq make that more or less likely. Regrettably, the US military has gone from being invincible in Iraq to irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if there are 140,000, or 40,000 or 400,000 anymore. If the administration believes otherwise, it is certainly free to argue its case, but one doubts it can.

Foolishly, General Casey stated that he would, indeed, ask for more troops if he thought they were necessary. Senator McCain has said for a long time that he favored more US troops in Iraq. The time for large numbers of US forces, say the several hundred thousand General Eric Shinseki said were needed, has passed. Mr. Bush claims that the troops will stay until the job is done. The US government doesn’t even know what the job is anymore. Like the British in 1914, the US troops in Iraq are lions led by jackasses, and haunted by the ghost of General William Westmoreland of Vietnam infamy.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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