Iraq re-construction plan we ignored

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

(h/t Ron Kessler) The following is the intro to one of the most chilling bits of reading I have done lately. It is 84 pages from the Army War College that were published back in Feb. 2003 and sadly they lay out exactly the scenario we now find ourselves in. Almost every problem they identify and difficulty they outline has come to pass, yet none of the solutions they envisioned were implemented and we have floundered for several years because of that.

Successfully executing the postwar occupation of Iraq is consequently every bit as important as winning the war. Preparing for the postwar rehabilitation of the Iraqi political system will probably be more difficult and complex than planning for combat. Massive resources need to be focused on this effort well before the first shot is fired. Thinking about the war now and the occupation later is not an acceptable solution. Without an overwhelming effort to prepare for occupation, the United States may find itself in a radically different world over the next few years, a world in which the threat of Saddam Hussein seems like a pale shadow of new problems of America’s own making.

One of the biggest mistakes made was disbanding the Iraqi Army, and this report states that the military was one of few possible institutions that could provide a stabilizing force across the entire country.

While a struggle for power between civilian and military elites would contribute to Iraqi fragmentation, the military can also serve as a unifying force under certain conditions.

Much more from the report and my commentary at unclejimbo.com

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Iraq re-construction plan we ignored

(h/t Ron Kessler) The following is the intro to one of the most chilling bits of reading I have done lately. It is 84 pages from the Army War College that were published back in Feb. 2003 and sadly they lay out exactly the scenario we now find ourselves in. Almost every problem they identify and difficulty they outline has come to pass, yet none of the solutions they envisioned were implemented and we have floundered for several years because of that.

Successfully executing the postwar occupation of Iraq is consequently every bit as important as winning the war. Preparing for the postwar rehabilitation of the Iraqi political system will probably be more difficult and complex than planning for combat. Massive resources need to be focused on this effort well before the first shot is fired. Thinking about the war now and the occupation later is not an acceptable solution. Without an overwhelming effort to prepare for occupation, the United States may find itself in a radically different world over the next few years, a world in which the threat of Saddam Hussein seems like a pale shadow of new problems of America’s own making.

One of the biggest mistakes made was disbanding the Iraqi Army, and this report states that the military was one of few possible institutions that could provide a stabilizing force across the entire country.

While a struggle for power between civilian and military elites would contribute to Iraqi fragmentation, the military can also serve as a unifying force under certain conditions.

Much more from the report and my commentary at unclejimbo.com

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» Planning for Victory, Legislating for Defeat from Op For
Let's draw together two or three threads. The first is from one of our notable colleagues at B5, the magnificently obscene Uncle Jimbo. In a recent post he laments (and rightly so) our failure to prepare adequately for the post-war... [Read More]