Lessons Not Learned

[goesh]

As a civilian on the side, I was always amazed at how the Republican Guard was touted to be top notch but then all of a sudden, the whole Iraqi Army was nothing but a bunch of cowardly bunglers and it would take many years to get them trained and ready. This seemed a glarying contradiction along with the notion of shock and awe somehow unfolding in densely packed urban areas. Give 'em rubble or give 'em respect I thought, then there was the matter of tens of thousands of young men standing idle on the streets. I always figured the logistic minds that could sustain an army could also figure out ways to get these guys off the streets without killing them. Germany and Japan were essentially turned to rubble and in 50 yrs. they became big players on the world scene so some lessons were available. Perhaps the only real measure of a great leader like General P. if found in his ability to open the gates of innovation and creativity and initiative for the lower echelons of the rank and file so that some good stuff flows up instead of only shi* flowing down. I think the Conventional is eternal and static and can only be tweaked from time to time by the emergence of certain types of leaders and some of it may simply be the luck of the draw.

[Steve the Planner]

goesh:

As near as I can tell from the news media, there are some very effective Iraqi generals living outside of Iraq (Jordan, Syria, etc...), and the US was, in fact, in negotiation with them to stay for the transition (like keeping the AIG executives who knew where all the bodies were buried?). But, they left, so it's pretty hard to judge the real alternatives.

The Embargo years certainly had an effect on the military, as it did on the economy at large, shifting a lot of otherwise productive capabilities to black market activities, so, between Gulf Wars, were the best and brightest going into the military, or into the more profitable sector?

Hard to tell. But one thing that amazed me was how they kept any of it (the economy or the military running)---even as just a shell---for so long. The amazing thing, in studying the Iran-Iraq War is not the strategic or tactical brilliance, but the ability to muster so many fighters in such historically bloody battles. So I don't discount Iraqi ingenuity and potential, even if, at the last, the military used the Irish strategy (run away to fight another day).

Steve