America has had its share of bad generals and admirals just as it’s had its share of good ones. And the good ones have, in America’s history, turned losing situations in winning ones by providing better strategies and inspirational leadership.
All this is by way of recommending Bing West’s book, The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics and the Endgame in Iraq. Mr. West does a remarkable job in describing clearly the politics on the ground during the first two years of the war, including Paul Bremer’s single-handed creation of the insurgency by his firing of the Iraqi army and dismissal of government Baathists. He notes that the Anbar awakening took place before David Patraeus took over and was largely due to work done by Marines under the command of James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis (who recently dumped ‘effects based operations’ from the Marine Corp repertoire – a long overdue development). He and his men were practicing counter-insurgency before the surge, as were Col. McMaster of the Cav and Patraeus himself while commanding the 101st. He makes the essential point that the Anbar sheiks had several times tried to ally themselves with the coalition, only to be rebuffed by Bremer and company. What should have taken place immediately after major combat operations took three years. The war was won only when our long-suffering troops got the leadership they deserved.
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