GEN McCaffrey Report - April 2006

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Dad

Does the success in Iraq the past year relate more to the surge or a change in tactics? Or are they inseparable? Thank you

I think it is too soon to tell. If I were waging this war on the bad guys side I would be allowing limited success to play into the US media to manipulate public opinion. They know there is an election going on. I also would let the US play out its effort, providing limited resistance, real enough to encourage the effort and take the major effort to ground, rebuild my infrastructure, and wait for a more favorable time to rise again. The surge only addresses a small part of the entire effort needed over there and that is the military part to provide enough security for the host nation to put into place those efforts required to quell the insurgency. Basically, I do not see the host nation addressing those needs and until they do the primacy of a military effort only is bound to fail.
It is a waiting game for them and they know that our country has lost patience and does not understand that this is going to have to be along term effort to succeed. Politics and the press are providing them all the measures of success they need to continue the effort.