Category Archives: Iraq

Iraq – Iraqi Leader, in Frantic Flight, Eluded U.S. Strikes

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Some interesting excerpts from the new book on the Iraq War entitled “Inside the Command” by Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor.

New York Times – Iraqi Leader, in Frantic Flight, Eluded U.S. Strikes

New York Times – Even as U.S. Invaded, Hussein Saw Iraqi Unrest as Top Threat

New York Times – Dash to Baghdad Left Top U.S. Generals Divided

New York Times – After Invasion, Point Man For Iraq Was Shunted Aside

New York Times – As Policy Decisions Loom, a Code of Silence Is Broken
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Iraq – In the Battle for Baghdad, U.S. Turns War on Insurgents

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Washington Post – Thomas Ricks’ interviews with U.S. soldiers from top generals to front-line grunts in Tall Afar, Mosul, Ramadi, Balad and throughout Baghdad, as well as briefings at the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, reveal a markedly different war from that seen in 2003 and ’04, or even last year.
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Iraq – U.S. Counterinsurgency Academy Giving Officers a New Mind-Set

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Washington Post – Thomas Ricks on how if the U.S. effort in Iraq ultimately is successful, one reason may be the small school started recently on a military base here by Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the U.S. commander in Iraq. Called the COIN Academy — using military shorthand for “counterinsurgency” — the newest educational institution in the U.S. military establishment seeks, as a course summary puts it, to “stress the need for U.S. forces to shift from a conventional warfare mindset” to one that understands how to win in a guerrilla-style conflict.
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Iraq – The Lessons of Counterinsurgency

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Washington Post – The last time the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment served in Iraq, in 2003-04, its performance was judged mediocre, with a series of abuse cases growing out of its tour of duty in Anbar province. But its second tour in Iraq has been very different, according to specialists in the difficult art of conducting a counterinsurgency campaign — fighting a guerrilla war but also trying to win over the population and elements of the enemy. Such campaigns are distinct from the kind of war most U.S. commanders have spent decades preparing to fight. Thomas Ricks writes about the work of Colonel H.R. McMaster.
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Iraq – Next Act

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Defense and the National Interest – Wars, most wars at least, run not evenly but in fits and starts, settling down into sputtering Sitzkrieg for long intervals, then suddenly shooting out wildly in wholly unpredicted directions. The war in Iraq has fallen into a set pattern for long enough that we should be expecting something new. William Lind identifies three factors ñ there may be more ñ which could lead to some dramatic changes, soon.
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Iraq – Lessons Learned in Iraq Show Up in Army Classes

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Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes a fundamental change overtaking the Army is on display in classrooms across Fort Leavenworth. After decades of being told that their job was to close in on and destroy the enemy, officers are being taught that sometimes the best thing might be not to attack but to co-opt the enemy, perhaps by employing him, or encouraging him to desert, or by drawing him into local or national politics???It is a new focus devoted to one overarching topic: counterinsurgency, putting down an armed and political campaign against a government, the U.S. military’s imperative in Iraq.
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Iraq – Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam

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Foreign Affairs – During Richard Nixon’s first term, when Melvin Laird served as secretary of defense, we withdrew most U.S. forces from Vietnam while building up the South’s ability to defend itself. The result was a success — until Congress snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by cutting off funding for our ally in 1975. Washington should follow a similar strategy now, but this time finish the job properly.

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