The Broken Tail

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet General David ‘Peaches’ Petraeus.  I chose not to call him by his childhood nickname, out of respect (read: fear).   I am pretty sure that, despite his diminutive stature and mild manner, he could kick my ass.  So I addressed him as General or Sir.

Notice, the general put his arm around Tamara, but not me. I wonder why?

I was with correspondent Tamara Banks, who was embedded in Iraq with the MNSTCI (pron: Min-sticky), an acronym for Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq.  Tamara, who arranged the ‘embed’ and the Petraeus interview, spent two weeks in Iraq for HDNet World Report, reporting on every aspect of the transition.  Tamara, her cameraman Tom Murphy and soundman Joao Valle, visited Iraq’s first crime lab (being set up by an Australian CSI team, supervised by an American general), and even saw Iraq’s first K-9 unit.  In a country that traditionally abhors dogs, with many citizens who’d rather shoot them than have them as pets (Abu Ghraib probably didn’t help), Iraqi cops to handle these bomb-sniffing German Shepherds, rewarding them affectionately when they perform well, was an extraordinary sight.  Tamara, Tom and Joao also went on patrols with the Iraqi Security Forces through Bagdhad and Kirkuk, unaccompanied by American forces.

But I had to do the heavy lifting.  I mean, Tampa was hot.  Maybe not Iraq hot, but hot.  And humid!  I also had to put on a tie.  But despite all this, I somehow made it through this very difficult assignment.  And lived to tell the tale …

Listening to Petraeus, it is clear that he views military power not just as the blunt instrument of invasion and shock and awe, but also the only institution (with apologies to the State Department) to tackle the thorny process of re-building broken societies — in other words, nation-building.  He applies an intellectual rigor to the metrics of war, to his study of the enemy, and the culture and traditions of the civilians caught between the two sides.  All of this is good, in my opinion; whether it will make any difference in Afghanistan, I have no idea.

Here are a few excerpts from our interview:

ON THE U.S. MILITARY ENGAGING IN ‘NATION BUILDING:’

I think the insight of recent years is this concept of what’s– called full spectrum operations… Stability and support where you get the kinds of nation building, helping you rebuild institutions, structures … so it’s about getting that mix right.  And, at various times, still, in– in Iraq, there have been where we were very heavily focused on offense or somewhat on the defense.  And not much focused on stability and support.  You think of various of the operations to retake Fallujah, if you will.  To clear and then hold– Fallujah.

But, by the time you’re done with the major combat piece of even– a smaller operation like that, rather than the entire campaign, you still end up with a stability and support operation… If you go back to the Gulf War– that kind of in– endeavor, very much conventional war fighting.

Where you defeat the enemy, take the hill, plant the flag and give high gives and go home to a victory parade.  You couldn’t have something more different than what– what it is that we’re doing now. … It is the kind of campaign in which you see progress but you don’t see flags planted on hills. … We are performing nontraditional roles for conventional military forces … Where you’re helping– country reestablish its entire ministry of defense.

ON HOW COMING OF AGE IN THE POST-VIETNAM ERA HAS AFFECTED HIS VIEWS ON IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN:

Well, on many different levels, actually … I think the lessons would be that, you know, you’ve gotta get– you have to have– sufficient understanding of the situation … I think many of the scholars will argue that we developed a pretty good counterinsurgency approach.

But they would probably also say that it was too late.  I don’t know about too little.  But it was certainly too late. … There’s lessons about– again, just being, you know, absolutely brutally honest in assessments and, you know– rigor in the kinds of metrics and all the rest of that– that– that you’re using to guide you. …

First and foremost, was a focus on securing the population.  And– and serving the people as well. … So we had to move into neighborhoods.  We had to establish our presence.  We had to fight to get in there, in many cases.  We had to fight to– to maintain security as– that local area.

The idea being first with the truth in our strategic communications.  I mean, we didn’t– we– we absolutely refused to put lipstick on pigs, as the saying goes.  Or– or to spin.  We just said, “Look, here are the results.  Journalists, you’re exposed to them.  You can report them for– for yourselves.”

But we also did, though, try to beat the enemy, the militia, the insurgents, to the headlines. … rather than being on the counter attack mode in the information operations arena, we tried to be on the offensive right up front. … The idea of, you know, when you get your teeth into the enemy, keeping them there.  You do, you know, let’s not, with all of the nation building, the non kinetic stuff– you have to remember that there’s one thing that people in uniform alone can do.  And that is kill, capture or run off the bad guys… And you cannot shrink from that.  You have to do that.  And, when you get your teeth into the– you– their jugular, you keep it there and you just keep going after them.  The idea of not– not starting a clearance operation until you know how you’re going to hold and build.

ON PRESIDENT OBAMA:

It’s not for soldiers to grade presidents.  But, I mean, I think this is– a man who’s got– a realistic approach to life.  Is– is pragmatic, but also has steel in his spine.  So, I mean, I– you know, I think he’s already demonstrated, in a number of different occasions, some of them involving the central command area of responsibility, those qualities.  And, previously, in his career.

ON RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012 (AS MANY IN THE GOP HOPE HE WILL – ON THEIR TICKET OF COURSE!):

You know, my wife was in here the other day, actually … She was asked about that.  And she said, “Well– you know, one of the challenges would be that he would have to do it with a second wife.”  (LAUGHTER)

And I– you know, there’s absolutely, I– I can’t, you know, I have taken to quoting a song that used to be performed by a country singer, Laurie Morgan, which goes something like, “What about no don’t you understand?”  And I really do mean that.