Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
Not a lot of stock, an understatement?

So the host nation is the Battle Space Owner? So during the invasion of Iraq, Iraq was the Battle Space Owner? When did the Iraqi Government become the BSO, and where was that?
William,
At this point in history, the Iraqi Security Forces own the battlespace, Area of Operations, Operational Environment or whatever term we want to use. They are the lead partner and were the junior partner. Other than some very rare force protection missions, we always requested permission from the Iraqi General in charge of an area we wanted to operate in and always had ISF with us. With only one Brigade in all of Baghdad province we must rely on the ISF to conduct security operations...U.S. forces cannot anymore. The drawdown truly was a forcing function to get the ISF out on their own and keep using U.S. enablers to support them.

Obviously not the same situation in Afghanistan. But when we look at Security Force Assistance, we want the host nation in the lead. Fortunately, we are at that point in Iraq.

Love the discussions!