[WCUSP] Army Captians: The Real Iraq We Knew (Washington Post 10/16)

[yvonne simmons]

> 12 former army captains basically saying immediate
> withdrawal is one of 
> two options the US has in Iraq (the other being
> reinstitution of the 
> draft).
> 
> It doesn't address reparations for Iraq, but does
> call attention to the 
> problems with Iraq's infrastructure (though it
> blames it on corruption 
> rather than the fact that the US destroyed most of
> it in 13 years of 
> sanctions and 16+ years of bombing).
> 
> Bring this to the people you know who say we need to
> withdraw slowly over 
> 6 months to a year.
> --dan
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>     washingtonpost.com
>     The Real Iraq We Knew
> 
>     By 12 former Army captains
>     Tuesday, October 16, 2007; 12:00 AM
> 
>     Today marks five years since the authorization
> of military force in
>     Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion.
> Five years on, the
>     Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced
> as it was from the
>     start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.
> 
>     As Army captains who served in Baghdad and
> beyond, we've seen the
>     corruption and the sectarian division. We
> understand what it's like to
>     be stretched too thin. And we know when it's
> time to get out.
> 
>     What does Iraq look like on the ground? It's
> certainly far from being
>     a modern, self-sustaining country. Many roads,
> bridges, schools and
>     hospitals are in deplorable condition. Fewer
> people have access to
>     drinking water or sewage systems than before the
> war. And Baghdad is
>     averaging less than eight hours of electricity a
> day.
> 
>     Iraq's institutional infrastructure, too, is
> sorely wanting. Even if
>     the Iraqis wanted to work together and accept
> the national identity
>     foisted upon them in 1920s, the ministries do
> not have enough trained
>     administrators or technicians to coordinate
> themselves. At the local
>     level, most communities are still controlled by
> the same autocratic
>     sheiks that ruled under Saddam. There is no
> reliable postal system. No
>     effective banking system. No registration system
> to monitor the
>     population and its needs.
> 
>     The inability to govern is exacerbated at all
> levels by widespread
>     corruption. Transparency International ranks
> Iraq as one of the most
>     corrupt countries in the world. And, indeed,
> many of us witnessed the
>     exploitation of U.S. tax dollars by Iraqi
> officials and military
>     officers. Sabotage and graft have had a
> particularly deleterious
>     impact on Iraq's oil industry, which still fails
> to produce the
>     revenue that Pentagon war planners hoped would
> pay for Iraq's
>     reconstruction. Yet holding people accountable
> has proved difficult.
>     The first commissioner of a panel charged with
> preventing and
>     investigating corruption resigned last month,
> citing pressure from the
>     government and threats on his life.
> 
>     Against this backdrop, the U.S. military has
> been trying in vain to
>     hold the country together. Even with "the
> surge," we simply do not
>     have enough soldiers and marines to meet the
> professed goals of
>     clearing areas from insurgent control, holding
> them securely and
>     building sustainable institutions. Though
> temporary reinforcing
>     operations in places like Fallujah, An Najaf,
> Tal Afar, and now
>     Baghdad may brief well on PowerPoint
> presentations, in practice they
>     just push insurgents to another spot on the map
> and often strengthen
>     the insurgents' cause by harassing locals to a
> point of swayed
>     allegiances. Millions of Iraqis correctly
> recognize these actions for
>     what they are and vote with their feet -- moving
> within Iraq or
>     leaving the country entirely. Still, our
> colonels and generals keep
>     holding on to flawed concepts.
> 
>     U.S. forces, responsible for too many objectives
> and too much "battle
>     space," are vulnerable targets. The sad
> inevitability of a protracted
>     draw-down is further escalation of attacks -- on
> U.S. troops, civilian
>     leaders and advisory teams. They would also no
> doubt get caught in the
>     crossfire of the imminent Iraqi civil war.
> 
>     Iraqi security forces would not be able to
> salvage the situation. Even
>     if all the Iraqi military and police were
> properly trained, equipped
>     and truly committed, their 346,000 personnel
> would be too few. As it
>     is, Iraqi soldiers quit at will. The police are
> effectively controlled
>     by militias. And, again, corruption is
> debilitating. U.S. tax dollars
>     enrich self-serving generals and support the
> very elements that will
>     battle each other after we're gone.
> 
>     This is Operation Iraqi Freedom and the reality
> we experienced. This
>     is what we tried to communicate up the chain of
> command. This is
>     either what did not get passed on to our
> civilian leadership or what
>     our civilian leaders chose to ignore. While our
> generals pursue a
>     strategy dependent on peace breaking out, the
> Iraqis prepare for their
>     war -- and our servicemen and women, and their
> families, continue to
>     suffer.
> 
>     There is one way we might be able to succeed in
> Iraq. To continue an
>     operation of this intensity and duration, we
> would have to abandon our
>     volunteer military for compulsory service. Short
> of that, our best
>     option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled
> withdrawal will not
>     prevent a civil war, and it will spend more
> blood and treasure on a
>     losing proposition.
> 
>     America, it has been five years. It's time to
> make a choice.
> 
>     This column was written by 12 former Army
> captains: Jason Blindauer
>     served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005.
> Elizabeth Bostwick
>     served in Salah Ad Din and An Najaf in 2004.
> Jeffrey Bouldin served in
>     Al Anbar, Baghdad and Ninevah in 2006. Jason
> Bugajski served in Diyala
>     in 2004. Anton Kemps served in Babil and Baghdad
> in 2003 and 2005.
>     Kristy (Luken) McCormick served in Ninevah in
> 2003. Luis Carlos
>     Montalván served in Anbar, Baghdad and Nineveh
> in 2003 and 2005.
>     William Murphy served in Babil and Baghdad in
> 2003 and 2005. Josh
>     Rizzo served in Baghdad in 2006. William "Jamie"
> Ruehl served in
>     Nineveh in 2004. Gregg Tharp served in Babil and
> Baghdad in 2003 and
>     2005. Gary Williams served in Baghdad in 2003.
> 
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101500841_pf.html



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. 
Make Yahoo! your homepage.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs