The unenviable task of reporting on the war and occupation in Iraq falls on the field commander, General David Petraeus, this coming September. Already we know the central gist of what he must say: “Significant progress in a number of areas; further challenges ahead in others.� Conclusion: We need more time for the Iraqis to fully pick up the ball. Translation: We’re in for the long haul. My own prognosis: chaos.
The September ’07 report will be a study in the crafting of language. It will be a tight rope to walk. How much of the actual content will be top-down versus bottom-up remains to be seen — or rather not seen. If the president’s Cabinet meeting discussion style is any guide, the general’s intervention in U.S. foreign policy will likely be highly scripted. One might say, pre-scripted.
General Petraeus is a great guy, unusually competent, who has a Ph.D. from Princeton University. Of course, Donald Rumsfeld went to Princeton, and a lot of good it did him — or us. By contrast, General Dwight Eisenhower went to West Point only, but even as president he actually listened to his field commanders. Eisenhower set the policy, and as necessary the military executed it. He didn’t pass the buck.
In the real world, field soldiers fight battles. They do not decide policy. We cannot fairly pin that burden or blame on General Petraeus. Nor should he try to shoulder it. General Douglas MacArthur learned that lesson when he tried to set U.S.-China policy during the Korean War, and President Harry Truman had to step in. We lost our best general. Then as now, the buck stops at the White House — especially when it originated there.
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Americans will be looking forward to General Petraeus’ take on how many “benchmarks� have been met by September ’07. One of the most critical benchmarks measuring Iraqi willingness to get in the saddle is the proposed Iraq Oil Law. This has been drafted with U.S. encouragement and support. But it’s a Trojan horse. While the proposed law does indeed seek a more balanced revenue sharing among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, what it also does is open as much as 50 percent of all Iraqi oil fields to “privatization� by transnational oil interests.
Wasn’t that what pre-invasion motivation and planning was all about in the first place? Could the entire war really have been a case of “gunboat diplomacy� with a different face? A blow to “free� up global markets and confront OPEC?
The Bush administration is already planting seeds around the country to downplay the significance of September 2007. The last thing they want is a time line that will interfere with their current strategy which envisions a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq. At the same time, as a hedge against the uncontrollable future, the administration is preparing to blame eventual mission failure on the Iraqis themselves, on the U.S. Congress, on Democrats, and on liberals (“just like in Vietnam�). Thus, the game plan is set. Now we have only to watch how it plays out.
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Our commander-in-chief (the one in Washington) was particularly disingenuous recently when he he declared an alarming bipartisan report on the mistreatment of our wounded troops and veterans to be “interesting,� and then took time out for a 10-second photo-op jogging with two amputees. Declaring that he is now “concerned� about the problem, he calls on Congress to do something about it.
The fact of the matter is that 99 percent of the abuses of our wounded troops and veterans falls squarely within the so-called “unitary� executive responsibility of the commander-in-chief. He dropped the egg. All Congress can do is try to mop it up. That’s not a normal legislative or judicial function.
Blaming others is a Bush administration trademark. An inside informant tells me, they teach you this technique at Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University. You may or may not realize that both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney went to Yale. To his credit, George graduated, so he’s U.S. president. Dick didn’t, so he’s only vice president.
My informant says that at Skull and Bones they teach future captains of industry and national political leaders that “What you did was right, because you did it.� That’s an exact quote. Today in Washington they phrase it differently and with greater modesty: “Mistakes were made,� but never “We made them.�
It is an interesting observation on the military mind and human nature that many of our senior officers are willing to risk their lives in the face of shot and shell on the battlefield, but on the home front they are unwilling to risk career, rank and pension by failing to parrot the correct political line. In extremis, they are expected to fall on their own sword. Taking orders is inborn and inbred in the military mind set. It defines duty and honor. General Colin Powell knows all about that.
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So here are my predictions: General Petraeus’ September report will inevitably confirm “significant progress� in Iraq — and then the fur will fly! There will be a paroxysm of debate in the Congress, on the airwaves and in the salons of the pundits. Possibly the American public will take notice, and even take part. Peace and justice types might start marching in the streets. Grief! There will be seismic splits in the Republican and Democratic parties. Extremists might propose turning it all over to the United Nations — so we can blame them.
Overseas, where matters are taken quite seriously, Britain and others in the “coalition of the willing� will announce scheduled troop withdrawals. That won’t auger well for the White House. The war and occupation will continue, of course, and more soldiers and civilians will die for a mistake. And the presidential and congressional elections in 2008 will be among the most contested, divisive and fascinating in the history of the United States.
Sharon resident Anthony Piel is a former member of the 2nd and 4th Armored Divisions, and former legal counsel of the World Health Organization.
