General John Batiste: An Army General's Letter to Obama

[babylonsister]

An Army General's Letter to Obama

by General John Batiste

General John Batiste was the commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2003, and retired as a major general in November 2005.


A retired career military officer tells the new president that we can’t win the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan without the coordinated effort of all government agencies.

I served in the U.S. military for 31 years and left on principle in 2005, disgusted by the failure to properly plan and execute our mission in Iraq. So I feel compelled to offer some basic advice to the Obama Administration about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we are dangerously overextended without a plan for success.

I know from personal experience on the ground in First Gulf War and in Bosnia implementing the Dayton Accord that effective strategy is a four-legged stool resting equally on diplomacy, economic recovery, political reconciliation and the use of our great military. But to ensure that all four legs are fully extended, the entire government must be engaged, with some interagency person synchronizing the planning and execution of contributions from all appropriate government departments and agencies.

Until the Department of Agriculture is as engaged and committed to defeating Islamic extremists as the Department of Defense, we are wasting our time.

In Iraq in 1991 and in Bosnia in 1996, I saw how effective such synergy can be. In Iraq in 2005, I witnessed the disastrous consequences of ignoring this principle and proceeding as if the use of military force alone can be sufficient.

So President Obama’s first order of business should be to fix the US Government’s interagency process. It is broken and desperately needs an overhaul similar to what the 1986 Goldwater/Nichols Act did for the Department of Defense. Define interagency protocols and assign planning and execution responsibilities. Define the planning process, insist on teamwork, clearly delineate the role of each department and agency and give the interagency group the power to follow through. Without a high performing interagency team, our government cannot be effective, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-24/an-army-generals-letter-to-obama/

[whistle]

1. Winning in Iraq has always been and still is a delusion because this war has been

...about taking control and possession of Iraq's oil resources and exploiting them for the benefit of corporations. In Afghanistan it's about control of the opium production and distribution

[HereSince1628]

2. Regarding 4 legged stool metaphors

I would point out that a stool with three legs defines a steady plane for its seat even on uneven ground.

Four legged furniture sits steady on the flattest polished marble floors only if the legs are of equal length. If the legs aren't perfect, the furniture wobbles.

Should we be messing with furniture or well based foreign policy?

[KharmaTrain]

3. Didn't Batiste Endorse Obama?

I know he fell out of favor with the booosh regime when he was critical of their surge stiffie...and was streamrolled by the Petreus express.

The missing leg of the stool has been diplomacy. There was little coordination with our "allies" as cowboy booshie thought he could go it alone. First thing is to restore the lines of communications and establish new ones around the world that will give President Obama a clearer picture on how to proceede. The question isn't withdrawing from Iraq, but how its done and then how to rebuild a military that still is over-stretched.

[spanone]

4. he could have stopped after..'we can't win wars in iraq and afghanistan'. period