Military Officer - April 2008 - (Page 61) Q&A It is a great tribute to our young troopers — and to their Iraqi counterparts who have sustained losses well over two times that of ours. But we don’t even use words like optimistic. We are realistic, and the reality of Iraq is that it is very hard. Doesn’t your caution signal that we will need to have a continuing heavy U.S. presence in Iraq for quite some time? Not necessarily. It means we will have to have some level of involvement but not anything approaching what we have now. That’s key. People say, “The minister of defense says he’ll need coalition forces for a decade.” That might be. But then ask him which coalition forces [he’ll need]. He’ll say fighter bombers, satellites, air defense systems, those high-end items that take decades to develop. It takes a long time, too, to reestablish the training, maintenance, and logistics capabilities for front-line fighters. There now are more than 500,000 Iraqis in uniform — police, border forces, Army, Navy, and Air Force. They are not going to put the 101st Airborne Division out of business. Quality is uneven, and some have been involved in sectarian violence. But it is a large force and, in a counterinsurgency, quantity is an important quality. Has the level of trust between American soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts been strengthened? Yeah. There occasionally are isolated incidents of Iraqi soldiers going off the rails, just as there are cases of our own soldiers going off the rails. But as you live with your Iraqi GEN. DAVID H. PETRAEUS counterparts, as you fight together, and sometimes shed blood together, there is a bond. We do see that. Most Americans still think invading Iraq was a mistake. Though U.S. forces are making progress, they still want troops withdrawn. How does that affect how you and your troops do your jobs day to day? We’re focused on our mission. That literally is what we’re riveted on and more than enough to keep us occupied. We’re looking forward rather than backward. We’re trying to do the best we can with the assets we have to achieve the mission we’ve been given. MO WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU What do you think of the surge strategy? Visit www.moaa.org /discussion and click on Surge Strategy. To read more about Petraeus’ testimony, visit www.moaa.org/petraeustestimony. pened eight months ago. He would have been afraid to come to us. He would have had trouble finding us, because we weren’t in the neighborhoods. He wouldn’t have been sure we were able to protect him. Now he is sure because of our constant presence.” In January, Odierno completed his 37th month in Iraq — three years in a war that had not yet reached the five-year mark. In February, he led III Corps units home to Fort Hood, Texas, completing their 15-month deployment. Troops leaving Iraq this time “really felt they made a difference. They would tell you that in the first six months of their tours, they had daily contact with an IED, small arms fire, or indirect fire. As they left, a lot of them would tell you they had not had a contact in months or weeks or that it was very rare. They’ve seen markets blossom and a lot of positive things that make them feel we’re moving in the right direction.” An important story of this war “is how sophisticated our young leaders have become in fighting this fight,” Odierno says. “An example is their ability to understand the network of an IED maker. They not only go after the IED, they are able to go after the guy who funded it and the guy who supplied the goods to make an IED. They understand how to get inside that network, how to attack it across a broad spectrum.” The typical response to attacks is impressive. “They’re amazing in how well they react to contact and what they’ve learned when they encounter mortar operations. They integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with air weapons teams, attack helicopters, and ground forces to the section level. Sergeant squad leaders are able to maneuver air weapons teams, UAVs, as well as the maneuver force, to conduct these operations. Those are things we always wanted to be able to do. We can do them today on a routine basis.” Progress also has been made against IEDs, lowering both their numbers and their lethality, Odierno says. “IED attacks had increased constantly from 2003 through June of 2007. From June through December we had a significant decline, back to levels last seen in 2004. We were able to cut the IED threat in half.” Part of the solution has been finding many more weapons caches. [CONTINUES ON PAGE 83] APRIL 2008 MILITARY OFFICER 61 http://www.moaa.org/discussion http://www.moaa.org/discussion http://www.moaa.org/petraeustestimony
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.