johnjzjz
07-19-2006, 09:52 AM
The other night thirty five of us had the pleasure of hearing General Jack Keane speak at a
black-tie affair on current events in the Middle East. Gen Keane, a four-star, is the former
(2 years ago) Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations of the U.S. Army. He regularly visits Iraq and briefs our leaders. In the past he has been responsible for joint-force activities in the Middle East , and now as a civilian speaks his mind rather freely. Our group was international in scope, U.S. / British / Irish / Dutch / New Zealand, mostly ex-military from all the services, with a heavy sprinkling from the highest ranks. Despite our similar backgrounds, the whole spectrum of views was present. The point is, Gen. Keane was neither speaking to the
emotional uninformed, nor to a group that needed "kid gloves". His speech was mesmerizing, with the comments below being my recollections:
The vast middle class, in both Iraq and Iran, want no part of violence, but are afraid for their families, so do not often speak out. This is why they love voting at polls, as their views remain individually anonymous. Most fully embrace democracy.
This will be an 8 or 9 year effort, which has always been known. It just takes that long for the citizenry to assimilate change.
Iraqi Shia (Arabic) and Iranian Shia (Persian) are at great odds with each other. As democracy takes hold, Iraq will reject control from Iranian Mullahs.
Each surge in violence is tied to democratic political gains, as insurgents see their position being weakened. As the Chicago Tribune said, "A unified, free, and democratic Iraq is what they fear most."
Other than for "surgical" operations, there is no long term advantage to mass killing insurgents, as they are being born faster than we can find them. Most are from other countries, sent to Iraq by their leader (Osama) on a "god given" mission. They know we value life greatly, while it means little to them. Since they have predominantly collected in one place, we can take the fight to them, or they can bring it to us. They have a passion for their mission that will only change as democracy shows a better way for most. Any withdrawal by us will only energize their efforts, convincing them of our lack of moral fiber.
Osama's master plan is to destroy the United States, not because he dislikes us, but because we are the epitome of western values which are a threat to his followers' way of life. They intend to do this through control of energy, which they believe enables everything we are. They believe we are morally weak and will not respond to our destruction. They cite the bombing of embassies, Kobar Towers, military installations, and the first World Trade Tower incident, about which we have done nothing but protest in the past. The anti-war rallies play right into their hands, as they see we don't have the stomach to stop them.
They know we have the strongest military on earth, so don't intend to provoke us that way.
They think we have the strength and they have the "guts".
Whether we are in Iraq or not will have no affect on their continued attacks on the United States. Our withdrawal would only validate our lack of resolve to respond.
They have a definitive plan to destroy an American city, taking around 300,000 lives with it. Their goal is to crash our economic system by taking the stock market, which finances our lifestyle, down. They also think Europe is easy pickings, as they don't have the moral courage to fight back, but taking us on is more effective in destroying Western lifestyle.
They see socialized countries like France as examples of Western fracture and weakness.
Rumsfeld is a tough man, but generals are supposed to be able to deal with tough men. For the initial invasion, the generals wanted a larger force (as they always do), but Rumsfeld said Iraq had already been severely weakened in the last go-around, so a smaller force would be adequate. In fact the "shock and awe" force worked extremely well. Mistakes were made, as they always are, but overall the military executed superlatively well. What was not anticipated adequately was the lack of consistent support from other departments, like State, which have constantly rotating staffs in Iraq. Their personnel do short-tours to enhance their resume's, but few have the passion to develop relationships and stick with the mission. He feels Rumsfeld is the right man, working tirelessly to look ahead and do the right thing. The dissenting generals for the most part worked for General Keane, and he says he respects their views, but they are trying to fight the "last" war. The more successful generals are looking ahead to the reality that Iraq is not about large numbers and military might. It is about adapting to change.
One of our mistakes has been the "P.R." effort to sugar coat results. Gen. Keane believes we should tell it like it is.
The Iraqi Army has made great strides, but will never be up to our standard. They fight well and have taken over 23 of our bases. The Iraqi Police Force is another matter that must be addressed, as it is infiltrated with insurgents.
26 Universities are functioning well, offering forums for public debate and intellectual scrutiny.
Do not take Iran lightly. They are serious about their goals, and will have nuclear weapons that will enhance their control of petroleum. Europe will not have the courage to do anything about it. The U.N. will do little beyond passing resolutions. Iran is too well fortified for us to have a decent chance of neutralizing their weapons programs. Israel has no chance of doing
so. The hard truth is they will develop nuclear weapons and we will have to live with that. How is not known. This is a dangerous world development without an apparent solution. Iran wants us to invade, knowing that will solidify the region far more effectively than the insurgency.
His main fear is that they see our protests and opinion polls as validating our moral weakness, vulnerability, lack of courage, unity and purpose. They see our response to 911 as a short attention span. They have changed nothing.
I am not sure I got everything exactly as he meant it, but you surely get the flavor of his remarks. No matter how you feel about our efforts, if you heard Gen. Keane speak, you would recognize his extraordinary regional knowledge, passion, and desire to do the right thing. He has devoted his life to understanding this threat, is open minded about solutions, and I for one feel comfortable that we have such a man so close to the helm.
black-tie affair on current events in the Middle East. Gen Keane, a four-star, is the former
(2 years ago) Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations of the U.S. Army. He regularly visits Iraq and briefs our leaders. In the past he has been responsible for joint-force activities in the Middle East , and now as a civilian speaks his mind rather freely. Our group was international in scope, U.S. / British / Irish / Dutch / New Zealand, mostly ex-military from all the services, with a heavy sprinkling from the highest ranks. Despite our similar backgrounds, the whole spectrum of views was present. The point is, Gen. Keane was neither speaking to the
emotional uninformed, nor to a group that needed "kid gloves". His speech was mesmerizing, with the comments below being my recollections:
The vast middle class, in both Iraq and Iran, want no part of violence, but are afraid for their families, so do not often speak out. This is why they love voting at polls, as their views remain individually anonymous. Most fully embrace democracy.
This will be an 8 or 9 year effort, which has always been known. It just takes that long for the citizenry to assimilate change.
Iraqi Shia (Arabic) and Iranian Shia (Persian) are at great odds with each other. As democracy takes hold, Iraq will reject control from Iranian Mullahs.
Each surge in violence is tied to democratic political gains, as insurgents see their position being weakened. As the Chicago Tribune said, "A unified, free, and democratic Iraq is what they fear most."
Other than for "surgical" operations, there is no long term advantage to mass killing insurgents, as they are being born faster than we can find them. Most are from other countries, sent to Iraq by their leader (Osama) on a "god given" mission. They know we value life greatly, while it means little to them. Since they have predominantly collected in one place, we can take the fight to them, or they can bring it to us. They have a passion for their mission that will only change as democracy shows a better way for most. Any withdrawal by us will only energize their efforts, convincing them of our lack of moral fiber.
Osama's master plan is to destroy the United States, not because he dislikes us, but because we are the epitome of western values which are a threat to his followers' way of life. They intend to do this through control of energy, which they believe enables everything we are. They believe we are morally weak and will not respond to our destruction. They cite the bombing of embassies, Kobar Towers, military installations, and the first World Trade Tower incident, about which we have done nothing but protest in the past. The anti-war rallies play right into their hands, as they see we don't have the stomach to stop them.
They know we have the strongest military on earth, so don't intend to provoke us that way.
They think we have the strength and they have the "guts".
Whether we are in Iraq or not will have no affect on their continued attacks on the United States. Our withdrawal would only validate our lack of resolve to respond.
They have a definitive plan to destroy an American city, taking around 300,000 lives with it. Their goal is to crash our economic system by taking the stock market, which finances our lifestyle, down. They also think Europe is easy pickings, as they don't have the moral courage to fight back, but taking us on is more effective in destroying Western lifestyle.
They see socialized countries like France as examples of Western fracture and weakness.
Rumsfeld is a tough man, but generals are supposed to be able to deal with tough men. For the initial invasion, the generals wanted a larger force (as they always do), but Rumsfeld said Iraq had already been severely weakened in the last go-around, so a smaller force would be adequate. In fact the "shock and awe" force worked extremely well. Mistakes were made, as they always are, but overall the military executed superlatively well. What was not anticipated adequately was the lack of consistent support from other departments, like State, which have constantly rotating staffs in Iraq. Their personnel do short-tours to enhance their resume's, but few have the passion to develop relationships and stick with the mission. He feels Rumsfeld is the right man, working tirelessly to look ahead and do the right thing. The dissenting generals for the most part worked for General Keane, and he says he respects their views, but they are trying to fight the "last" war. The more successful generals are looking ahead to the reality that Iraq is not about large numbers and military might. It is about adapting to change.
One of our mistakes has been the "P.R." effort to sugar coat results. Gen. Keane believes we should tell it like it is.
The Iraqi Army has made great strides, but will never be up to our standard. They fight well and have taken over 23 of our bases. The Iraqi Police Force is another matter that must be addressed, as it is infiltrated with insurgents.
26 Universities are functioning well, offering forums for public debate and intellectual scrutiny.
Do not take Iran lightly. They are serious about their goals, and will have nuclear weapons that will enhance their control of petroleum. Europe will not have the courage to do anything about it. The U.N. will do little beyond passing resolutions. Iran is too well fortified for us to have a decent chance of neutralizing their weapons programs. Israel has no chance of doing
so. The hard truth is they will develop nuclear weapons and we will have to live with that. How is not known. This is a dangerous world development without an apparent solution. Iran wants us to invade, knowing that will solidify the region far more effectively than the insurgency.
His main fear is that they see our protests and opinion polls as validating our moral weakness, vulnerability, lack of courage, unity and purpose. They see our response to 911 as a short attention span. They have changed nothing.
I am not sure I got everything exactly as he meant it, but you surely get the flavor of his remarks. No matter how you feel about our efforts, if you heard Gen. Keane speak, you would recognize his extraordinary regional knowledge, passion, and desire to do the right thing. He has devoted his life to understanding this threat, is open minded about solutions, and I for one feel comfortable that we have such a man so close to the helm.