“I spoke at length with my brother, who is a career, senior NCO in the Army. He just returned from Iraq this past month after a year of service in that theater. His views and opinions are decidedly mixed, if not pessimistic. With respect to the immediate situation, it is his view that we are doing now what should have been done in the first 60 days after Saddam’s fall: bringing the hammer down on those elements of Iraqi society unwilling to accept the change in regime. He feels, as do most military folks with whom I have either conversed or read, that we have an inadequate number of boots on the ground who are experienced in the type of warfare at hand (counter-insurgency; light infantry; urban warfare). In general, it is his observation that the US Army has become woefully overstretched in Iraq, Afghanistan, and with our other worldwide commitments (US Army’s troop strength is 40% of what it was 12 years ago).
Longterm, he is rather pessimistic regarding our efforts in Iraq. Although I do not agree with his pessimism, I do think he makes a credible argument for why our efforts to rationalize and democratize Iraq are likely to fail. First, there is no tradition whatsoever in Iraq for the rule of law (or at least none sense the time of Hammurabi). Second, Iraq is a state comprised, like Yugoslavia, of many disparate and often vengeful minded “nations” and “tribes.” Third, the whole society, despite its modern technological trappings, is still essentially organized around the tribal unit, which makes the development of a pluralistic and rational society extremely difficult. Although I have a much more optimistic view on this subject (at least in the longterm of the next two decades, assuming the US stays the course), I found his comments to be very sobering.
His most pessimistic views were reserved for the future of the US military, especially the Army and the reserve forces. The Army’s longterm morale appears to be at severe risk due to its being so overstretched. Re-enlistments by the very backbone of the Army (senior NCO’s and Officers) are going to start dropping like a rock unless the situation changes in the estimation of my brother. This is doubly the case with the Reservists, upon whom the military has become so dependent. In addition, our military personnel are terribly underpaid given the missions that they are called upon to fulfill during this wartime era. Many military families live at near subsistence level incomes, are required to make huge sacrifices in terms of risk to loved ones and constantly having to move, and struggle to make ends meet.
The harshest of his criticisms were reserved for Rumsfeld who obdurately and stubbornly has refused to even give any hearing to these concerns by the military. I got the impression that Rumsfeld is largely loathed by the brass and the rank and file in the Army, and probably in the other services as well.” – more feedback on the Letters Page.
The Dish 