General Wayne Downing

General Wayne Downing died today. I regret his passing. He never met me personnaly and he really didn't know me, but he always returned my emails discussing the War in Iraq. He listened to my point of view and gave me his time and opinions. He had no obligation to give me any time what-so-ever, but he did. His life is well known and the nation is grateful. Like other great leaders he did not see himself so high that he could not talk to those folks who did not fly at his altitude. Rest in Peace, General.

The Middle East, American Politics and What Many of Us Want (updated)

This current administration has created the conditions for a national and international disaster of unprecedented proportions. The administration has been defeated in Iraq, bungled the war in Afghanistan and failed to act in the best of the country in terms of Middle East regional diplomacy. Their war programs and policies have not been effective or successful. But not only that, Homeland Security and emergency disaster management planning needs greater resources and commitment. At this point a national will is maturing with clear guidance to our national leaders. Here is a proposal of what many Americans believe and want:

Many Americans believe that the rationale of the president’s decision to invade Iraq was fatally compromised by flawed intelligence and the strong suspicion of politically manipulated intelligence.

Many Americans believe that the invasion of Iraq was never necessary because of the lack of an al Qaeda connection and because as General Zinni has said: “If anything, Saddam was coming apart. The sanctions were working. The containment was working. He had a hollow military, as we saw. If he had weapons of mass destruction, it was leftover stuff -- artillery shells and rocket rounds. He didn't have the delivery systems. We controlled the skies and seaports. We bombed him at will. All of this happened under U.N. authority. I mean, we had him by the throat (bold added) . But the president was being convinced by the neocons that down the road we would regret not taking him out.”

Many Americans believe that the current so called surge of troops in Iraq is not producing positive results. To the contrary it is tearing down our military and thereby endangering our national security. Many of us believe that some of our National Leaders are calling the tactical adjustments of the insurgency to the surge as evidence of success…, when in reality it is the successful modification of tactics to American combat operations by an highly flexible and adaptable enemy (ies).

Many Americans believe that a political solution is the only answer to our dilemma in Iraq. Many Americans also believe that this Administration has turned over the quest for a political solution to Nouri al-Maliki (and all) and that the Iraqi’s are incapable of producing any semblance of a satisfactory political solution. Not only that, many of us believe the this administration is unequal to the task of finding a positive solution to the President’s War in Iraq.

Many Americans believe that part of any solution to the War in Iraq requires an active and intentional regional diplomacy with all the players in the Middle East.

Many Americans believe that this administration has failed in providing the best Homeland Security and national disaster planning. Many of us have particular concerns regarding Port Security and Nuclear Reactor Security, the failure to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations and inadequate emergency response planning for natural disasters.

Many Americans believe that our security interests would have been better served if we would have increased Homeland Security, Intelligence and national emergency management spending by $8B/month instead of spending that money on the President’s War in Iraq.

Many Americans believe that our Military is at the point of exhaustion in terms of personnel and equipment. Many of us also believe that the President’s War in Iraq has made this nation vulnerable to other security challenges because our Military is overcommitted to Iraq and unable to respond to the full spectrum of security challenges.

Many Americans believe that our nation is not doing enough to take care of our returning war veterans.

Many Americans believe that an immediate and substantial withdrawal of US Forces from Iraq must happen right now. Many of us also believe that a “by the throat” strategy of control of Iraqi air and sea ports with a concurrent presence of a rapid reaction force that is pre-positioned “over the horizon” is what is needed now in order to provide for our security. Many of us believe that our military needs to be “reset” and that we need to spend more on Homeland Security and national disaster planning (see bullet point above).

Many Americans believe the this Administration has failed to exploit success in Afghanistan and has lost control of situation there. Many of us believe that the so called narco crops in Afghanistan are a real problem to which this administration is unable to deal with. Many of us also believe this administration has taken it’s eye off of our real enemy… al Qaeda.

Many Americans believe that the prison camps in Guantanamo are an abomination and an betrayal of American Values that compromises our national power.

Many Americans believe that the judicial process in Guantanamo Prison Camps are an abomination and an insult to American Values that compromises our national power.

Many Americans believe that this Administration has in the past and currently conducts and supports the torture of prisoners. Many of us believe that this is a criminal betrayal of our American Values and fully compromises our national power.

Many Americans are distraught over the Attorney General Gonzales' Senate Testimony regarding habeas corpus. Many of us believe that this is part of the Bush Administration’s goal of using the War in Iraq as an means increasing the power of the neocons by eliminating/reducing our civil rights.

Our national leaders should consider the vital importance of cultivating and sustaining a unified national will as a component of national power. The current administration appears to be completely out of touch with the national will of the people and is tragically unable to bring together any sense of national common mission. This circumstance critically diminishes our national power and ability to succeed in Iraq or anywhere else. Until the administration or any of our leaders can formulate and communicate a foreign policy that can unify our nation, no actions in Iraq can be redemptive.

The American People have not been defeated in Iraq, the American Military has not been defeated, the American Political System has not been defeated, but this Republican Administration has been defeated in an asymmetrical conflict that it not only started but has also found to be unequal to the task. Many Americans are asking our national leaders to pursue a path that cultivates and sustains integrated national power responsive to a unified national will.

This may require “reaching across the aisle” to find national common political ground. Anything else jeopardizes the very well being and integrity of our beloved nation.

Sec Def Handling of Walter Reed AMC Outrage: Two Words for Robert Gates

BRAVO ZULU

Asymmetrical Warfare and the Defeat of the Bush Administration

“While asymmetric warfare encompasses a wide scope of theory, experience, conjecture, and definition, the implicit premise is that asymmetric warfare deals with unknowns, with surprise in terms of ends, ways, and means. The more dissimilar the opponent, the more difficult it is to anticipate his actions.

“Potential opponents understand that picking a conventional fight with U.S. forces is tantamount to suicide. As the potential for asymmetry increases, so does the level of uncertainty and the potential for tactical, operational, and strategic surprise.” ("Doctrine for Asymmetric Warfare"; Colonel Clinton J. Ancker III, U.S. Army, Retired and Lieutenant Colonel Michael D. Burke, U.S. Army, Retired)

I believe that this Republican Administration is unable to comprehend the nature and the quality of the dissimilarity between the Middle East and their own neo-conservative world view. The consistent failure of this administration to identify, comprehend and respond to the forces and factors at play in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular and in the Middle East in general shows a complete ignorance of the universe that is the Arab world. While our military has yet to suffer any battlefield defeats, this Republican Administration has time after time been caught off guard and defeated. This administration has consistently failed to understand the asymmetrical nature of not only the war in Iraq but the entire Middle East.

Time and time again, this administration’s foreign and domestic plans, policies and politics regarding Iraq have been shattered by the rapid and unexpected actions of the forces at play in Iraq. Time and time again this administration has been unable to cope with the turbulent events in Iraq. The consequences of this failed national leadership has impacted the morale and cohesion of the national will of the nation and subverted our ability to act in our own best interest overseas and at home.

I think there are three things that have contributed to the defeat of this administrations leadership and the political failures that have ensued:

1. This administration has not understood the weight of history and colonial imperialism that the Arab world has experienced with the west. The western involvement in the Middle East has been historically characterized by deceit, exploitation, violence, domination and military invasion. This continues to play a part in the Arab – West (United States) relationship. Microsoft Encarta has described the middle east environment accurately…, it is a shame the Republican Administration does not have the same clarity:

“It is also widely believed in the Middle East that the West, and especially the United States, largely controls the affairs of the region, and that the corrupt governments of the Middle East survive because the West needs them in order to protect its interests there. These beliefs have caused considerable anti-Western sentiment and widespread feelings of cynicism and disempowerment, which in turn have led many to conclude that Islam is the only solution.” (Microsoft Encarta)

2. This administration has not understood the Arab importance of tribes, clans, sects and villages over and against the western idea of nationalism and democracy. This administration has attempted to impose the western idea of democracy and at the same time create a sovereign Iraqi nation that is subservient to American interests. Neither of these goals can find any legitimacy in Iraq… or in the Middle East. CPT Travis Patriquin, USA (sadly killed in Iraq in December 2006) was clear on the importance of this indigenous emphasis (over the US imposed Iraqi nationalism) in his important stick figure diagram entitled: “How to Win the War in Anbar”.

In his book “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” T.E. Lawrence also describes it clearly:

“The (Arab) idea of nationality was the independence of clans and villages, and their ideal of national union was episodic combined resistance to an intruder. Constructive policies, an organized state, an extended empire, were not so much beyond their sight as hateful in it. They were fighting to get rid of Empire, not to win it.” (T.E. Lawrence; Seven Pillars of Wisdom, A Triumph)

3. This administration has failed to understand the asymmetrical power dynamics between the muscular adventures of the world’s only super power and the militarily weaker but anger powered Arab reaction. Military power does not guarantee success and in fact can be the very thing that generates an environment that can defeat the leaders of a super power. T.E. Lawrence reports (Seven Pillars of Wisdom) a conversation he had with the future King Feisal that described the Arab position in 1917, but I am saying Feisal’s words still apply today with the US involvement in Iraq and in the Middle East:

“Feisal mused a little and said (to me), ‘…(a)nd though I know the British do not want it, yet what can I say, when they took the Sudan, also not wanting it? They hunger for desolate lands, to build them up; and so, perhaps, one day Arabia will seem to them precious. Your good and my good, perhaps are different, and either forced good or forced evil will make a people cry with pain. Does the ore admire the flame which transforms it? There is no reason for offence, but a people too weak are clamant over their little own. Our race will have a cripple’s temper till it has found its feet.’”

The American People have not been defeated, the American Military has not been defeated, the American Political System has not been defeated, but this Republican Administration has been defeated in an asymmetrical conflict that it has not only started but also found to be unequal to the task.

Supporting the Military

This administration has led us into a terrible fiasco in Iraq. The decision to invade has had catastrophic consequences for the people of Iraq and the Middle East in general. Not only that, this administration has imposed the greatest domestic burden of the war on the Military personnel and their families. With regard to the American People and the Iraq war, it is the Military and their families that have suffered unequal sacrifice and unequal national involvement in support of the President’s decisions. With regard to the Iraqi people they have suffered underserved and horrific tragedies due to this administrations incompetence.

It is not fair that this administration captivates the American People and the Iraqi People with their catastrophic mistakes in Iraq. It is not fair that this administration demands that the American people support them as they search for ways to accomplish their agenda in Iraq. The administration’s repeated call to “support our troops” by supporting the president’s actions in Iraq ring hollow.

If our national leaders are not providing the necessary vehicle and personal armor for our troops in combat, then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not providing quality military equipment and combat vehicles for our troops, then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not providing comprehensive and appropriate combat training for our troops in combat, then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not providing the necessary down time, dwell time and predictable combat deployment schedules for our warriors and their families, then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not improving current care and providing better and more comprehensive care for returning wounded vets (to include compressive care and research for head injuries) then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not talking about a more robust and comprehensive veteran employment support programming after EAS then our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not providing greater physical and mental health support for veterans and their families than our national leaders are not supporting our Military.

If our national leaders are not addressing the gaps created by the Iraq war in this nation’s ability to meet other foreign and domestic military contingencies then our national leaders are not supporting our Military… or our Nation.

If our national leaders are not developing and sustaining a unified national will that supports our foreign policies than our national leaders are not supporting our Military… or our Nation.

If our national leaders are not relieving the unequal burden of war sacrifice that is placed on our warriors and their families then our national leaders are not supporting the Military… or our Nation.

"Supporting our Military" does not mean that we must support the president’s war-making powers and at the same time ignore that critical needs of our Military and their families that have been created by our invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The Middle East: What Many of Us Want From Our National Leaders

The American People are the employers of the elected and appointed national leadership. You national leadership folks need to go back to the drawing boards and come back to the people of America with a different plan in the Middle East. Many of us want better leadership… leadership that is inspired, creative and effective. Most of us feel that we don’t have that now. We want you to get our military out of Iraq and begin a new effort in a completely different manner. Here is what many of us want:

Close Guantanamo Bay Prison Camps. Either try the detainees with the UCMJ or let them go.

We want long term regional stability with appropriate consideration for human rights in the Middle East. We want this desired outcome to be based first and foremost on skillful high quality diplomacy and inspired foreign economic policy. We don’t want forced democratization of the middle east at the point of a weapon held by our military personnel.

We have always supported the Taliban regime change in Afghanistan. We want you to make sure that Afghanistan is a success and we want bin Laden brought to justice. Go after our enemy’s bases in Afghanistan and find a legitimate way to eliminate them in Pakistan without creating another war. Find a way to stop massive drug agriculture farming. Make it so.

We want a strong and effective and consistent and enduring and ongoing diplomatic effort coupled with skillful foreign economic policy directed at the Israel/Palestine situation. We don’t want our national leaders to ignore this conflict and we want an equitable policy for both sides. We want our national leadership diplomatically engaged in this conflict.

You are not doing enough to deal with the Syrian and Lebanon situation. We want better diplomacy and leadership in this situation and we want stability to be a goal here.

We want a highly effective Homeland Security System that is robust enough to respond to multiple natural, man-made and terrorist threats simultaneously. We are willing to spend a lot money on this. We do not want this nation to torture folks, or compromise human rights or diminish our constitution or our Bill of Rights to do this. Did I mention we are willing to spend money on this? We would even be willing to spend $8 billion a month more than we are spending now.

We want you to deal with Iran. We want smart diplomacy and we want you engaged diplomatically with that country. We want smart tough diplomacy in this issue…, you know: the kind that works. We don’t want a third war in the middle east. Do not go to war with Iran without consent of your employers (“we the people”).

We want you to put more diplomatic effort and money into restraining nuclear proliferation. We want much better results in this area than our national leadership has given so far.

We want the military “reset.”

We want our intelligence gathering systems overhauled and improved. We want the 9/11 Commission Report suggestions implemented… yesterday.

We want a new energy policy that reduces the cost of energy and frees us from non-renewable energy resources. Get us free from our dependence on fossil fuels.

These are some of the desired outcomes many of us want from our national leadership. Let us know if you are equal to the task or should we hire and/or elect new leaders?

Peace In A World At War

It was Christmas Eve, 1914…, World War I… and it was the 5th month of a war that lasted five years. And the French and British and others were on one side, most called themselves Christian, but there were other religions there as well. The Germans were on the other side, most of them were Christian. And they were beating the hell out of each other. In a short five months there were a million dead… millions of folks were refugees and war was adding up it’s grim arithmetic.

And on that Christmas Eve night 1914…, on one side of the trenches, the report has it that a soldier began singing “Silent Night Holy Night.” Pretty soon another soldier took up the hymn, then some of the soldiers on the opposing side began singing hymns.

At one point, someone raised a cross and a Christmas tree… and then a miracle seemed to happen. On Christmas Eve 1914, in the first year of World War I, soldiers disobeyed their superiors and made peace with "the enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front.

German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, "Merry Christmas" and "You no shoot, we no shoot." Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.

Without official approval, sometimes against orders, and almost by accident, the soldiers in the trenches made for themselves a Christmas truce… it was like peace had come down to earth. Up and down the line, at different times and in different places, the guns were silent. A allied soldier was quoted as saying:

"We shook hands, wished each other a Merry Christmas, and were soon conversing as if we had known each other for years. We were in front of their wire entanglements and surrounded by Germans. We stood inside the circle like street-corner orators."

Another soldier reported:

"Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs. Where they couldn't talk the language they were making themselves understood by signs, and everyone seemed to be getting on nicely. Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!"

Another solder said:

“There was not an atom of hate on either side that day”

This was the Christmas Truce of 1914! In the carnage of Human History, it was an encounter with peace. Where the unforgivable was forgiven… where the irreconcilable was reconciled… a least for a brief moment. It wasn’t too long after Christmas Eve and Christmas day 1914… that a shudder ran through the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight.

National leaders on both sides declared this spontaneous peacemaking to be treasonous and subject to court martial and execution. Two days later, the Christmas Peace had been eradicated and the killing machine was put back in full operation. By the time of the armistice in 1918, fifteen million would be slaughtered and 22 million wounded.

If only that small glimpse of peace could have lasted a little longer and if only peace would have prevailed a little bit longer. We don’t seem to be smart enough or strong enough to accomplish the mission that God has set before us.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all humankind.