Nov
19
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
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The biggest threat these days may be food poisoning if you are not used to the local "flora" of the Kebabs and Smoothies. Secondary threat--a septic infection from a cut at the barber shop.
But, with some Immodium and an up-to-date tetanus shot, you should be fine.
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Nov
17
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 17 November 2008 |
In Brigadier Richard L. Clutterbuck's book "The Long Long War: The Emergency in Malaya 1948-1960" the end game of the British fight against the communist guerillas is very instructive.
Clutterbuck puts the begining of the end game around 1955. But the end was not until 1960.
I first encountered Clutterbuck and the Malayan civil war as model for counter insurgency in Fallujah in 2005.
After reading the book, I realized it was a blue-print for how to build a counter-insurgency.
The British, like the coalition in Iraq, spent a lot of time on mostly useless hammer and anvil type operations until they embarked on the "Briggs Plan."
If you put the Briggs Plan next to General Petraeus' counter insurgency manual, they are nearly identical. The accounts of the Briggs plan in action mirror the strategies and tactics employed by General Raymond Odierno when he was the Corps Commander in 2007.
The coalition is in a similar position to the British in 1956-1957.
The government of Iraq is becoming more capable. The Iraqi Police and military are more effective. The insurgency is waning and on the run. Many former insurgents, both Sunni and Shia, are being assimilated into mainstream.
But there is still a cadre of dedicated insurgents out there.
The British solution was to keep the emergency regulations in place, but with less strict enforcement on a case by case basis and to work closely with the new Malayan government. The British still kept their full complement of infantry battalions in the jungles, slowly hunting down the remnants and stepped up construction and commercial projects.
The British did not pull back into large bases. They dispersed out even deeper into the jungles of Malaya.
In Iraq, this move would be to reduce our logistical footprint in massive bases and to deploy infantry into even smaller outposts in the population centers where the Soldiers and Marines would live off the local economy as much as possible.
The arc of the war in Iraq has mirrored the British experience in Malaya to an uncanny degree. U.S. Policy makers should study the history of Malayan civil war.
If they do, they will see that we need another three years or more of deliberate and precision hunting down of the insurgent cadres to finish the job permanently, lest the core be able to reconstitute itself.
The surge has worked--to a stunning degree. But the war is not won yet.
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Nov
14
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Friday, 14 November 2008 |
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The change from the beginning of the Surge to now, at the end of the Surge has to be seen to be believed.
Luckily, through modern technology, you can see it without going to Baghdad or bending the space-time continuum.
The 2007 video was shot April 29, 2007 with the 1/4 Cav., 4th IBCT.
The 2008 video was shot October 26, 2008 with the 7/10 Cav. 1st IBCT.
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Nov
02
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Sunday, 02 November 2008 |
(Note: In the occasional blog posts I get the time to read in Iraq, I've kept up with Dr. Helen's "Going John Galt" series.
Depending on the turns of history, there could be another type of Galt, not from the business class, but the Guardian class. Allow me to illustrate with this fictional news item. JD)
Lieutenant Colonel John Galt, who commanded an Army Infantry Battalion during the Baghdad Surge, resigned his commission today after declining promotion to full Colonel and the command of an infantry brigade.
Galt's former Battalion, 'The Falcons' was credited with taming some of the most violent districts of Baghdad and the techniques he used have been applied by other units with great success. The success of 'The Falcons' was cited by the commander of coalition forces in Iraq, the Secretary of Defense and even the former President.
"He was on track for a Division command, Corps Command even being a combatant commander," said Lt. Col. Phil Jackson (Ret.) "but he was not willing to take a Brigade to Iraq just to be a rear guard on the withdrawal. Galt wins. He finishes the mission. He does not intentionally lose."
Jackson also recently resigned his commission after a tour as a Battalion Commander.
Galt graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in History and Economics before being commissioned and earned a Masters Degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins. He previously served tours in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
Galt is one of many commanders and field grade officers taking retirement rather than promotion. The trend is also appearing in the Staff NCO Corps as veteran Platoon Sergeants, 1st Sergeants and Sergeants Major are failing to reenlist.
"It is the largets brain and experience drain ever to occur to the U.S. Military," said Thomas Brow, a Sr. Fellow at the Strategic Research Institute, a think tank that tracks trends in national security.
Brow said the loss of experienced and dynamic military leaders will be noted by rivals to the U.S. "They see men like Galt leaving and know that the 'Junior Varsity' will be leading troops for the next generation. The implications for international strategy and negotiations are immense."
Galt left his last post without ceremony, packing up his family and moving to his retirement home in Knoxville, TN where he works part-time as a clerk at small book store.
When asked in person why he left the military after a disguinished career with a bright future he did not comment and only shrugged.
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Oct
29
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Thursday, 30 October 2008 |
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I bring the rain to FOB Falcon every
time.
Iraq is indeed a desert, but it rains
here in the valley between the two rivers more often than people imagine.
The rainy season, running from November
through April bring torrents flooding the streets and swelling the canals. Even in
May and June there will be occasional storms.
But this year Iraq has been in a dry
drought. My return to FOB Falcon broke the drought--that or by sheer happen stance the drought
ended when I arrived at FOB Falcon.
I snapped the pics below on the drive
from JSS Jihad in Baghdad's West Rashid district to FOB Falcon in the south of Baghdad.
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Read more...
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Oct
28
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Tuesday, 28 October 2008 |
Look at this man.
All the picture will tell you is that he is an Arab.
But the man, Firas, is much more.
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Read more...
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Oct
27
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Monday, 27 October 2008 |
Commerce. One of the key metrics I have used through the years to determine progress is commerce.
Iraqis understand commerce.
As I walked through the retail districts of Jihad and Bayaa anecdotally I can report that there is an increase in economic activity.
In discussions with shop owners in Jihad and Bayaa they report increased business from 2006 and 2007.
Bayaa, which has been walled in, is still going brisk, despite being difficult to reach. But people still come to Bayaa for the most stylish clothes and widest selection of products.
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Read more...
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Oct
27
2008
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 27 October 2008 |
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This trip is shorter than most I make to Iraq. Normally I go to Iraq for months. This time it is just two weeks.
This trip is coordinated by my good friends at Black 5. The mission is to look at Iraq from the perspective of a former Army Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who commanded the 1-22
Inf. "The Regulars" back in 2003-2004 in the roughest parts of the
Sunni Triangle.
The Regulars are back in Iraq, this time in West Rashid, my old home in Baghdad. (A rather generous turn of fate.)
We're flying low and keeping a tight production schedule, so posting
will be light. We're shooting, interviewing and working outside the
wire as much as possible.
Jimbo of Black5 gets the credit (blame) for a lot of this. Another
twist is that I will be back in this neck of the woods later next month
and I'll do any follow-up work and spend more time in Rashid with the
Regulars.
Credit also goes to my friends at Vets For Freedom and David Bellavia
for bringing the whole operation together. The crew on this trip, as I
mentioned in a previous post, is worthy of seminar on Iraq. Which is
what the final product will be.
I'll will get some photos uploaded later today.
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Oct
24
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Friday, 24 October 2008 |
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To paraphrase the Jr. Senator from Illinois, "this is not the Baghdad I used to know."
Organized soccer matches between teams in uniforms. Children and families on playgrounds. Packed restaurants.
In the spring and early summer of 2007, those were things you did not see in Baghdad's West Rashid District. In the early days of the surge, Baghdad residents referred to West Rashid as "the arena." Sunni and Shia assassins added to the daily body count in a blood fued for hire that sprialed nearly out of control.
The 1-28 Infantry Battalion "The Black Lions" had just moved into the area of operations then. Eighteen months later, the 1-22 Infantry Battalion, "The Regulars" are now patrolling the streets of Rashid.
I was here in the bloody days of the begining of the surge in 2007, when what is the reality now, was a mere potentiallity. (My documentary Baghdad Surge was shot in West Rashid in the Spring/Summer of 2007.)
As I watched the soccer match I could not believe what I was seeing. Rather than complain about the violence or mortars or killings, the players wanted grass--grass to play on.
That is the level of progress in 18 months.
My first night in West Rashid in 2007, I fell asleep to the sound of a raging gunfight. Nearly every night was like that back in 2007. Even when on the outposts, I had to wear full battle rattle when walking in certain areas that would be exposed to incoming fire.
Tonight I stood in a place I never would have stood in 2007, I stood stationary, smoking a cigarette, listening not to gunfire but to the sounds that come from any city.
It is good to be home--even if I barely recognize it.
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Oct
21
2008
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Written by JD Johannes
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 |
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The JVB or Joint Visitors Bureau, Camp Victory Baghdad. Guys like me rarely ever get to come here. I'm not sure what I would do here anyway. I prefer to get to a Brigade or Regiment, then get dropped into a Battalion and go to work.
But this mission is different. A lot different.
I can't help but feel that I do not belong here. This is where network anchors operate out of. Where VIPs stay.
I'm just a dude with a camera. I keep waiting for someone to say, "Lt. Colonel Russell, you can stay. Brian Bennett, you can stay. JD, go find some outpost to live at."
But that is where I am most comfortable--outside the wire. There is no video to shoot here at Camp Victory Baghdad. Maybe an interview or two. But those will be meaningless without the real footage of grunts on the ground.
So much of Victory is off limits to photography. One of the great ironies of combat reporting is that I can go some pretty intense missions, shooting video of everything from the classified briefing to the classified intelligence gathered on the way. But I am not allowed to shoot video of a big base.
When I'm with a Battlion or infantry company I become a member of the unit. Here, I am treated as something else.
I have also always disliked the sheer scale of Camp Victory. The SUVs,the restaurant style dining facilities, the gyms the Walmart like PX. Oh and did I mention all the SUVs? Parking lots filled with them.
Give me OP Omar, COP Battle or some patch of canal country. That is the war.
Yes, this place may help us get to some really intersting places--and that is the mission this time.
I just hope to get back outside the wire where I belong.
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