12 Captains
With an alarmingly poor grasp of political and military realities in Iraq and the United States weigh in with the following at the Washington Post:Â
There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.
It would be far quicker, cheaper and less politically traumatic to simple expand the military, and offer financial incentives to boost enlistment. The one benefit in a draft is that the Democrats in Congress would be enthusiastically on board, because they know it would not accomplish our goals in Iraq, but theirs in the United States.Â
Regarding withdrawal, even the withdrawal advocates in Congress understand that immediate withdrawal is not possible. In addition to billions of dollars worth of equipment, there are also 160,000 American lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives … those who have worked with us … that need to be protected. It may have only taken three weeks to get in, but it would many months, in any practical, reasonable way, to get out.
The idiotic concluding graph is preceded by a litany of facts and distortions:
Iraq is a benighted, corrupt country. Political can of worms. New systems overlaid on old. True. Corruption will probably remain a fact for a long time. Practical political power structures are a work in progess.
Not enough troops to maintain in Iraq. Maybe, maybe not. The expansion of the Army is being excelerated. How many troops are needed depends on what happens, and so far, progress is not only good but gaining momentum. Â
Surge successes illusory, have only pushed insurgents elsewhere. Evidence increasingly suggests this is false, in fact that the captains’ are grossly misrepresenting the situation. The captains fail to note the dramatic spread of the Awakening movement even into Shiite areas.
Insurgents pushed elsewhere attack locals who turn against us and join the insurgents out of fear. Reports suggest the opposite. The few attacks al-Qaeda has managed in Diyala lately, as reported, were repelled by villagers and local Iraqi forces.
U.S. forces make vulnerable targets. Apparently less so lately, though the captains fail to note that the rate of attacks and deaths is plummeting.
Iraqi forces not able to hold. Maybe true now, more so in some places than others, though overbroad statement is contradicted by a number of reports on the ground. Increasingly positive reports from outside observers as well as the military suggest Iraqi forces are making progress.
Iraqis voting with their feet, leaving. Undoubtedly true that many have. Though this picture, some reports suggest, is muddied by the fact that people going on vacation to Syria are counted as refugees. I’m not confident we’ve gotten a good accounting, nor a good sense of the dynamics, exactly how Iraqi feel about staying, going or coming back.Â
This will be cited as more iron-clad proof that the military can’t win in Iraq, and even the military doesn’t think so. Petraeus’ erstwhile counter-insurgency advisor, Australian LTC David Kilcullen, said an interesting thing recently. When you served in Iraq tends to color how you view Iraq. Here’s the list of captains and when they served. No 2007s in there. All the 2007s are still over there. I’d add that where you served probably makes a difference as well, as some critics have suggested the NYT’s seven grunt war critics who are 2007-deployed soldiers were doing combat patrols in a particularly bad area. However, along with those seven grunts and a handful of generals, this oped will be cited as evidence the military itself doesn’t think it can win. Here are the captains:
 Jason Blindauer served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Elizabeth Bostwick served in Salah Ad Din and An Najaf in 2004. Jeffrey Bouldin served in Al Anbar, Baghdad and Ninevah in 2006. Jason Bugajski served in Diyala in 2004. Anton Kemps served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Kristy (Luken) McCormick served in Ninevah in 2003. Luis Carlos Montalván served in Anbar, Baghdad and Nineveh in 2003 and 2005. William Murphy served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Josh Rizzo served in Baghdad in 2006. William “Jamie” Ruehl served in Nineveh in 2004. Gregg Tharp served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Gary Williams served in Baghdad in 2003.
More: Flopping Aces, Blackfive, Captain’s Quarters, Jawa
Welcome Punditeers, Captain’s scurvy crew, Jawas, Blackfive, Meme, assorted angry lefties, etal. It’s a beautiful morning. Come on in. We’re watching some Hamas TV. It’s all the rage. Hey, I thought that science was settled. Must be Gore Derangement Syndrome. Uh oh, looked who got big(carbon)footed. I was thinking, if it’s such a disaster like those captains say, how come al-Qaeda hurts so bad?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:26 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2007
12 Responses to “12 Captains”
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October 16th, 2007 at 9:12 am
[...] with a call for a draft or a complete retreat from Iraq. That’s simply nonsense. The US, as Jules Crittenden notes, has other means to increase the armed forces. We can increase recruitment by increasing the [...]
October 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Short of the US being attacked by a standing army, I don’t understand how anyone could call for the reinstatement of the draft. Do they not remember the massive demonstrations, the card burnings, the desertions and flights to Canada and Sweden? Or is that, maybe, what they’re hoping for?
October 16th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Don’t need a draft. Just lower qualifying standards down to what they were during say…the Carter era…when my BCT company at Dix had an average 9th grade education with quite a few being only being 6th grade.
Now, they want pretty much high school grads. Opening the gates to the dropouts would provide many millions more to draw from.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Hillary to Surrender In Iraq Immediately Upon Taki
Not believing in coincidence, I’m smelling the stench of a Soros-style PR campaign in this WaPo piece that fits deftly into Hillary’s “revelation.”
October 16th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Web Reconnaissance for 10/16/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Hear, hear Purple Avenger. Remember the term “hollow force”? In my helicopter squadron in 1979 you couldn’t find a 2nd class petty officer (generally acknowledged as the backbone of the Navy.) All the troops were either first termers or last termers, because nobody further than 4 years from retirement was going to stick around for more great “support” from their fellow Navy guy Carter.
They had to wait for a mid grade Hollywood actor to provide the type of commander in chief they deserved.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
As a Navy officer with 10 years of service, I believe that these 12 Army Captains are among the only officers or senior NCOs in the entire US military who want a draft. Almost every leader has one or two bad apples–the five percent of the unit that sucks up twenty-five percent of the administrative load. Bringing in people who didn’t choose to serve, and who may try very hard to get discharged, would only make it worse. Every minute spent dealing with a troublemaker is a minute that a leader is not spending on training and mentoring his people, on ensuring that equipment is maintained, on planning upcoming missions, or on caring for his troops’ well-being. The result of reinstating the draft would be decreased combat effectiveness and greater casualties. These 12 Captains and anyone in or out of uniform who agrees with them need to really think things through before deciding to support the draft.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Amusing…I guess the old “Commander’s Open Door Policy” wasn’t cutting it for these juniors. We all know how much more effective it is to write our congressman/newspaper/insert-public-forum-here, than it is to construct and present a coherent argument to those who can actually do something - though it must be said that 12 middle managers posting a screed in any international organization are akin to voices in the wilderness. This apparent (albeit tardy) vent is just what it is and will fade with new letters to the WaPo editors - and of course to be trotted out and interpreted as required by those with their own axes to grind.
October 16th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
You got Insta-Linked on this one.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Are these people still serving?
I am sick of people working against us, especially those who ought to know better. What the hell are we teaching that allows them to do so?
October 16th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Our editorialist Jason Blindauer runs a web site called “National Service Act”-
http://www.nationalserviceact.com/4.html
October 16th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
There’s a great deal less here than meets the eye. Flipping Aces and Ace of Spades blog sites have information on just who the “captains” are (hint..several do not even show up on AKO as CPTS) several haven’t been in Iraq for years and at least one appears to have been a contractor employee. There is also (on both sites) a very good response to the inanities of the 12 “captains”.