Iraq victory approximation

AFTER ACTION REPORT: VISIT IRAQ AND KUWAIT 31 OCTOBER - 6 NOVEMBER 2008, By General Barry R. McCaffrey USA (Ret), November 4, 2008

The latest from McCaffrey on Iraq. Note that it's addressed to Col Michael Meese, son of Reagan's AG, who served famously in Petraeus' brain trust during the surge and now wields his considerable influence as a new thinker at West Point. He was kind enough to send me a copy of On Point II after our F2F there last spring.

Of special interest to me is the definition of the "howevers" under the economy header. This is where Steve and I think Development-in-a-Box can have a lot of good impact once translated southward.

As tentative as this all feels, this is as close as it may come to a definition of "victory" in Iraq--as wholly inappropriate as that term may be.

Comments

[Thaddeus Jankowski]

Great report from a great man, but he strikes me as a "trailing indicator" at this point. Retired Gen McCaffrey opposed the surge and opposed MRAP vehicles. Now that both have been proven to be really, really helpful, he says both are really great.

Nov 2006: McCaffrey said, "(the Surge) is not feasible." "I wince when I hear the word victory." (MSNBC, 13Nov08). Evidently it was feasible and he's not wincing in saying "victory" in this report. Good thing we have people like Gen Petraeus, Retired Gen Keane, and Sen McCain, "leading indicators," to help us understand how to do the impossible, and then do it.

Dec 2007: McCaffrey said on MRAPs, "We went the wrong direction. It is the wrong vehicle, too late, to fit a threat we were actually managing.” (LATimes 27Dec07). Well enough to keep an 800lb bomb going off right next to three Generals during the time of announcing "Victory"?