Just pre-ordered Bing West’s new book “The Strongest Tribe” over at Amazon.The insidpensible Small Wars Journal has a conversation with West here’s a sample:
You say General Petraeus didn’t turn the war around. (p 364) The war turned because the Sunni tribes came over to the American side before Petraeus arrived. Petraeus, a fine general, reinforced that success. But did not create it. The war was won from the bottom up due to the tenacity of our soldiers. It’s a dangerous delusion to believe any general can bring quick success. That belief allows the rest of us to feel we don’t have to commit or sacrifice in wartime. It’s up to the generals. That lets us off the hook, so we can vote for a war, and then disown it.
We’re doing well now. So why not pull out, as Senator Obama has proposed? We should pull out most of our forces. General Petraeus has earned our trust. He is best qualified to determine the rate of withdrawal. A fixed timetable is militarily rash. A fixed timetable doesn’t mean Iraq will fall apart. A timetable does tell al Qaeda when we are leaving – and from where. Al Qaeda will concentrate on the weak areas. The weaker Iraqi battalions will pull back, conceding sanctuaries. Al Qaeda, now on the ropes, will not be finished off. We must avoid saying we are leaving because the Iraqis have not done enough. That makes us look like quitters. If you quit, people treat you as a loser. Al Qaeda will be encouraged and the war in Afghanistan will be harder to fight.
…read the whole thing, and order the book.
With all do respect to Mr. West, he needs to explain how and why Gen. Petreaus had Mosul pacified so early in the conflict, according to Michael Yon’s “Moment of Truth in Iraq”.
If he does this in the book please let us know, thanks.