As an NBC military affairs analyst, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey is a familar face to many Americans. McCaffrey also serves as an adjunct professor at West Point, and in that capacity recently wrote an eight-page paper on the situation in Iraq based on a recent visit there. In today's Washington Post, there appears an article by Thomas Ricks, WaPo's Pentagon correspondent, reporting on the McCaffrey paper. While Ricks does discuss some of McCaffrey's more optimistic findings, he emphasizes the negative while ignoring a number of the general's positive observations. Ricks' headline sets the tone: McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture Of Iraq, a tone reinforced by the article's opening line: "An influential retired Army general released a dire assessment of the situation in Iraq, based on a recent round of meetings there with Gen. David H. Petraeus and 16 other senior U.S. commanders."
Ricks does state that McCaffey's report "also lists several reasons for some new optimism, noting that since the arrival of Petraeus last month, 'the situation on the ground has clearly and measurably improved.'" And later: "Among McCaffrey's reasons for new optimism were that the Maliki government is permitting the United States to attack rogue leaders in the Mahdi Army of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Also, he noted that U.S. and Iraqi forces have changed their basic approach to operations, with soldiers now living on small outposts across Baghdad. Iraqi forces also are better equipped than before. In Anbar province, he noted, 'There is a real and growing groundswell of Sunni tribal opposition to the al-Qaeda-in-Iraq terror formations.' So, he concluded, it is still possible to develop a stable Iraq."
But Ricks omits mention of a number of other significant, positive findings that McCaffrey made, including the following:
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- "We have brilliant military and civilian leadership on the ground in Iraq. General Dave Petraeus, LTG Ray Odierno, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have the country's treasure and combat power at their disposal. Our cause is just. The consequence of failure will be severe."
- "The Iraqi people are encouraged" and "life is almost immediately springing back in many parts of the city. The murder rate has plummeted. IED attacks on US forces during their formerly vulnerable daily transits from huge US bases on the periphery of Baghdad are down – since these forces are now permanently based in their operational area."
- "The Iraqis have finally committed credible numbers Of integrated police and army units to the Battle Of Baghdad. The strength of IA, IP, and NP units has steadily gone up aided by clever monetary and troop leader incentives. The ISF formations are showing increased willingness to aggressively operate against insurgent/militia forces. Although there is continuing political interference by politicians of both the Iraqi Administration and legislators – this is clearly a serious urban security operation."
- "The equipment and resources for the Iraqi security forces has increased dramatically" While "Maliki has pushed to create a larger security force." The ISF has planned 2007 expenditures of more than $7.3 billion. The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior are the only two of 27 Iraqi Ministries that have executed their budgets at 90% plus satisfactory rates. (General Petraeus is now putting US military liaison officers in ten additional civilian Ministries to jump start their budget process.) PM Maliki has pushed to create a larger security force of more than 100,000 Iraqi Army troops."
- "There is a very sophisticated and carefully integrated approach by the Iraqi government and coalition actors to defuse the armed violence from internal enemies and bring people into the political process. Reconciliation of the internal warring elements in Iraq will be how we eventually win the war in Iraq – if it happens. … There are encouraging signs that the peace and participation message does resonate with many of the more moderate Sunni and Shia warring factions."
" emphasizing the negative?
UPDATE: Appearing on this afternoon's Hardball, McCaffrey told Chris Matthews that it would be a military mistake and political disaster for the Dems to impose a binding timetable for withdrawal. He added that in the last 45 days since Gen. Petraeus got there, "the short term indicators are immeasurably better."
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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The continued obfuscation abo
March 28, 2007 - 17:10 ET by BlondeThe continued obfuscation about Iraq is maddening!
Up is down, good is bad.
If you're up to it....here's something interesting....a viewpoint and comments by those who are actually doing it (or their parents) ...and what they think about the bufoonish Congress and their stupid pork-barrel bill to arbitrarily end the war.
Oh, sorry, I forgot. The dems "support the troops".
Silly me.
www.iraqslogger.com re Tal
March 28, 2007 - 22:02 ET by M J Bwww.iraqslogger.com re Tal 'Afar would suggest that the insurgency has moved on to easier climes until the surge runs out of steam , support or funds.
Just a note: the surge hasn'
March 28, 2007 - 19:44 ET by KC MulvilleJust a note: the surge hasn't really started yet, and the full complement of soldiers hasn't arrived yet. No one knows whether the surge will work in the long term. All that's happened so far is that there have been a few hopeful signs. Like any military and/or diplomatic initiative, first steps are followed by responses, and then the cycle takes on a life of its own. The purpose of the surge was to stop the old cycle and to start a new one. We are a long way from seeing any results.
Any further comment, positive or negative, simply reflects what the commentator is really hoping for.
Retired military
March 28, 2007 - 20:45 ET by Jerry MackRetired Generals ,Colonels , Sargents, Majors ,Captains, Admirals ,ect. They all have an opinion. But the fact is none of them are incharge and are not asked to be in charge. Find one that says things are going well in Iraq and msnbc and cnn will find 2 that says things are not going well. I do not care what any of them say because they are getting payed to say what the network wants them to say. The only people that I pay attention too are the ones on the ground in Iraq.
In this case the newspaper followed their agenda and reported exactly what was dictated by their political beliefs.
This memorandum written by Ge
March 28, 2007 - 21:21 ET by jdhawkThis memorandum written by Gen McCaffrey appears to be written by two different people.
What I mean by this is that paragaph 3 of the memorandum couldn't be more negative and dire in its outlook. The paragraph is peppered with crap like, "Iraq is ripped by a low grade civil war . . ." Yet, the Kurdish area is so peaceful that they are running advertisements back in the United States with tag lines like, "the Other Iraq". The British are reducing their role in the south of the country because they no longer see a need to be there.
McCaffrey continues with stuff like, "US domestic support for the war in Iraq has evaporated and will not return." What is particularly asinine on the part of the general is the notion that our armed forces are less trained when they are sitting stateside twiddling their thumbs than when they are engaged in combat operations. Or that recruiting is anything less than phenomenal.
On the other hand, in paragraph 4, McCaffrey praises almost everyone and everything and is very up beat. He regales us with wordsmithing such as, "The wariness, adherence to ROE, and discipline of the involved air and ground forces are awe-inspiring." Or, "The attention to detail of US Army and Marine units on Entry Control Points (ECP’s) makes me enormously proud as a former combat platoon leader and company commander." And, "The US Tier One special operations capability is simply magic."
This article or in military jargon, memorandum, was written by McCaffrey as if the first part was for his masters at NBC/MSNBC and the remainder was to keep his job at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
As an aside, the list of people that McCaffrey spoke to, albeit over breakfast, lunch or dinner, in seven days (9-16 March) was nothing short of the unbelievable. And, I mean that, it is unbelievable. You can call McCaffrey what you will, but don't call him late for a meal!
Very astute analysis, jd, I
March 28, 2007 - 21:32 ET by Mark FinkelsteinVery astute analysis, jd, IMHO.
The Rest Of The Story (whiteh
March 28, 2007 - 21:29 ET by sembyThe Rest Of The Story (whitehouse.gov):
Gen. McCaffrey's Iraq Report Includes Optimism "We Can Still Achieve Our Objective Of A Stable Iraq"
"Since the arrival of General David Petraeus in command of Multi-National Force Iraq – the situation on the ground has clearly and measurably improved. … We can still achieve our objective of: a stable Iraq, at peace with its neighbors, not producing weapons of mass destruction, and fully committed to a law-based government." – Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey,
"After Action Report Following Visit To Iraq And Kuwait" The Washington Post's Thomas E. Ricks: "McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture Of Iraq." (Thomas E. Ricks, "McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture Of Iraq," The Washington Post, 3/28/07)
But Ricks Focuses On One Of Four Sections In Gen. McCaffrey's Report. Ricks focuses on a section titled "The Problem," and either minimizes or ignores other aspects of Gen. McCaffrey's report in sections titled "The Current Situation," "The Way Ahead," and "Summary."
Like Gen. McCaffrey, President Bush, Administration Officials, And The National Intelligence Estimate Have All Acknowledged The Significant Challenges We Face In Iraq. Because of these challenges, the President announced a new strategy in January. As Gen. McCaffrey says, we are seeing some signs of early progress under Gen. David Petraeus' leadership.
President Bush: "Amid the real challenges in Iraq, we're beginning to see some signs of progress." (President Bush, Remarks On The Iraq War Emergency Supplemental, The White House, 3/23/07).