There's a remarkable op-ed piece in WaPo today, written by Gen. Barry McCaffrey. McCaffrey is currently teaching international affairs at West Point.
The op-ed spells out a list of things the USA should do to avoid catastrophe in the Middle East. I'll summarize Mccaffrey's ideas below. You've heard them all before.
The amazing thing about the op-ed piece is the way he finishes it. McCaffrey admits that, if the USA can't find the will to do the things he says we must, then we need to pull out of Iraq now.
If it turns out we CAN'T find the will - and McCaffrey admits the US public has given up on the war - he says we - "we" being the American people - must "search for those we will hold responsible in Congress and the administration."
To my knowledge, this is a first. A well respected, retired US Army general, teaching at our leading military university, is pretty much calling for impeachment.
Here is McCaffrey's objective, followed by his 3 point plan to achieve it.
"Our objective should be a large-scale U.S. military withdrawal within the next 36 months, leaving in place an Iraqi government in a stable and mostly peaceful country that does not threaten its six neighboring states and does not intend to possess weapons of mass destruction."
COMMENTARY. Fair enough. That's a fine objective. There's no way we'll achieve it, but at least he's stated his goal. McCaffrey admits openly that Iraq is a mess. And he says:
"We could immediately and totally withdraw. In less than six months, our 150,000 troops could fight their way along strategic withdrawal corridors back to the sea and the safety provided by the Navy. Several million terrified refugees would follow, the route of our columns marked by the burning pyres of abandoned military supplies demolished by our rear guard. The resulting civil warfare would probably turn Iraq into a humanitarian disaster and might well draw in the Iranians and Syrians. It would also deeply threaten the safety and stability of our allies in neighboring countries."
COMMENTARY. This is the "it could be worse" scenario that is supposed to scare us into keeping the war going. McCaffrey tells his readers how to avoid this disaster.
POINT #1. "There is a better option. First, we must commit publicly to provide $10 billion a year in economic support to the Iraqis over the next five years. In the military arena, it would be feasible to equip and increase the Iraqi armed forces on a crash basis over the next 24 months (but not the police or the Facilities Protection Service). The goal would be 250,000 troops, provided with the material and training necessary to maintain internal order."
COMMENTARY. Translation: we spend more money, wait around for the Iraqi army to get its shit together, and everything might work out. Spot them 2 more years. Well, that sounds like old ideas. Tried that already, right? Didn't work. How you gonna sell that one, general? What's the carrot for the American people? McCaffrey's answer - draw down the number of US troops.
POINT #2. "Within the first 12 months we should draw down the U.S. military presence from 15 Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), of 5,000 troops each, to 10. Within the next 12 months, Centcom forces should further draw down to seven BCTs and withdraw from urban areas to isolated U.S. operating bases -- where we could continue to provide oversight and intervention when required to rescue our embedded U.S. training teams, protect the population from violence or save the legal government."
COMMENTARY. This, of course, is pure fantasy. We can't control Iraq with current troop levels. How can anyone expect us to control it with fewer troops? For good measure, McCaffrey tosses in the idea of getting US troops out of the cities and onto isolated operating bases - outposts in the desert. This is more fantasy. It would protect US soldiers, for sure. But it would also hasten the descent into outright civil war in the cities. McCaffrey recognizes that this war needs a political, not military solution, so he adds this:
POINT #3. "Finally, we have to design and empower a regional diplomatic peace dialogue in which the Iraqis can take the lead, engaging their regional neighbors as well as their own alienated and fractured internal population."
COMMENTARY. What the fuck? It's the "regional neighbors" who are keenly interested in fracturing Iraq's internal population even further. See Iran, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. This is nonsensical. Next, in a bit of anger, McCaffrey unloads on Rummy.
"We are in a very difficult position created by a micromanaged Rumsfeld war team that has been incompetent, arrogant and in denial. The departing defense secretary, in a recent farewell Pentagon town hall meeting, criticized the alleged distortions of the U.S. media, saying that they chose to report a few bombs going off in Baghdad rather than the peaceful scene he witnessed from his helicopter flying over the city. This was a perfect, and incredible, continuation of Donald Rumsfeld's willful blindness in his approach to the war. From the safety of his helicopter, he apparently could not hear the nearly constant rattle of small-arms fire, did not know of the hundreds of Marines and soldiers being killed or wounded each month, or see the chaos, murder and desperation of daily life for Iraqi families."
COMMENTARY. I would argue that the entire IDEA of invading Iraq was insane. It likely doesn't matter much WHO implemented that crazy scheme. It was doomed to fail. But whatever. McCaffrey goes on to caution against the Baker-Hamilton ISG Report's advocacy of more US advisors.
Then comes the real kicker. I was pretty surprised McCaffrey would publish this in WaPo.
"All of this may not work. We have very few options left."
COMMENTARY. McCaffrey, whatever bad ideas he may hold, is NOT saying "Clap louder!". He's admitting that his 3 step plan may fail. Later on, he sadly admits it likely WILL fail, because of lack of political will.
"In my judgment, taking down the Saddam Hussein regime was a huge gift to the Iraqi people. Done right, it might have left the region and the United States safer for years to come."
COMMENTARY. In English this means "I supported the IDEA of the war, but these guys fucked it up. Don't blame me".
"But the American people have withdrawn their support for the war, although they remain intensely committed to and protective of our armed forces."
COMMENTARY. McCaffrey can't resist the tried and true "We would've prevailed if our Army had not been STABBED IN THE BACK!" crap-o-la. Blame the civilians for losing nerve. Those who use this argument have forgotten that the soldiers ARE civilians, and that the voting public goes against war to protect its children and its neighbors' children, when it becomes clear that the war's benefits fail to outweigh its costs.
"We have run out of time. Our troops and their families will remain bitter for a generation if we abandon the Iraqis, just as another generation did after we abandoned the South Vietnamese for whom Americans had fought and died. We owe them and our own national interest this one last effort."
COMMENTARY. This is almost like Greek tragedy. McCaffrey fought in Vietnam, and lived through the long years of darkness in the US military after our defeat there. He can't stand the idea of another such defeat, so he calls for "one last try". Then, this amazing final line:
"If we cannot generate the political will to take this action..."
COMMENTARY. Of course, it's a done deal. The goose is cooked. McCaffrey has already admitted, "The American people have withdrawn their support for the war". He has already said there's no will for more war. This whole plan is a non-starter. He concludes:
"...it is time to pull out and search for those we will hold responsible in Congress and the administration."
That's the final line. WE must search for those we will hold responsible in Congress and the administration.
We can't just chalk this up as "good idea, bad execution - NEXT!"
McCaffrey is calling for the American people to hold their elected officials reponsible for this disaster. In an op-ed piece, in one of our nation's leading papers, he's calling for us to investigate and punish the politicians who gave us this war.
It's not just the lefty fring calling for impeachment. Retired, war-hero generals teaching at West Point are calling for impeachment, too.
--By Toadvine
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