Australia's Commander-in-Chief, Governor-General Michael Jeffery, believes a lack of troops on the ground in the weeks after the US-led coalition went into Iraq hampered efforts to secure Baghdad.
In an interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine, Major General Jeffery contrasted early tactics in Iraq with the counter-insurgency campaign he led in Phuoc Tuy province during the Vietnam War. "We were charged with winning the hearts and minds of local people and ensuring they were safe, which is the antithesis of what's happening in Baghdad. People aren't safe," he said.
Major General Jeffery served in Borneo, Malaya, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam during a 40-year military career.
As Commander-in-Chief he receives regular briefings from the defence chiefs on troop deployments, not policy.
He will not say whether Australia's involvement in Iraq is right or wrong because he won't comment on operational matters. However, he defends Australia's intervention in Vietnam.
"Going in there was right," said Major General Jeffery, who was awarded the Military Cross.
Reflecting on the initial phase of the Iraqi conflict, in March 2003, the Governor-General said: "There weren't enough soldiers to seal Baghdad off."
"Because that didn't take place everything went counter to the way the coalition and the Iraqi Government were hoping.
"A lack of troops, a lack of police, the structures weren't there, the numbers weren't there and this is a vitally important time immediately after the first battles."...
U.S. Didn't Have Enough Troops in Baghdad
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