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The Iraqi military that Reese advises comes in for a withering assessment. Although he writes that the U.S. can be “justifiably proud” that the Iraqi military has “defeated the organized insurgency,” any opportunity for bequeathing Iraq a professional military free from a “Baathist-Soviet model” is “now long past,” and U.S. forces cannot change the situation by 2011. Reese criticizes the Iraqi military for “endemic” laziness, corruption, nepotism, mistreatment of enlisted soldiers, and worse. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense and its Baghdad Operations Command are untrustworthy, incompetent and unable to “stand up to Shiite political parties,” despite “all the fawning praise we bestow” on both organizations.
Reese’s assessment of Iraqi government performance is even harsher. He writes that reconciliation of the ruling Shiites with former Sunni insurgents and rejectionists is “at a standstill, and probably going backwards,” nor is there movement to resolve Arab-Kurdish tensions in the north. Corruption and incompetence in the ministries is “the stuff of legend,” with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s much-touted anti-corruption measures a mere “campaign tool.” Essential services like electricity still are unable to meet the needs of Iraqis, and the government does not take “rational steps” to improve them. “The general lack of progress in essential services and good governance is now so broad that it ought to be clear that we no longer are moving the Iraqis ‘forward,’” Reese writes.
We’ve got the whole memo on the Washington Independent, but Michael Gordon of the NYT has it too. Well played sir! I am legitimately scooped. And so this is Embrace’s "Building." Nothing seems to work out quite/the way I planned…
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What I love is how Reese seems to be irritated at the very things that demonstrate that the Iraqis are ready, willing and able to take over running their own damned country, thank you very much.
If Iraqi sovereignty is to have any meaning, the US has to accept that the Iraqis aren’t going to be lockstep clones of whichever neocons have the Pentagon’s ear at the moment.
Goddamn it! I’ve been working on this too.
I’m curious for Paul’s take too, but you’re right about this, if maybe I’d put it differently. Throughout the memo there’s an evident frustration at how objectively poor the Iraqi security forces are but how willing they are to reject U.S. military parochialism.
I’d caution that Reese has a different story for the Iraqi government. There he doesn’t see the biggest problem being its rejection of U.S. assistance, but their inability to get its act together for the population, including targeting the population. His main concern there is that we lack the ability to influence that anymore. But it’s different from saying that they’re puffing their chest up and telling us where to go.
I feel for you brother. My heart sank when I saw Gordon pulled the trigger on that piece. My own private “Mendoza!” moment.
The Iraqis want American forces out. The Americans want American forces out. It’s nothing but a rathole for desperately needed funds. I keep hearing that health coverage for the American people is “too expensive”. Well, maybe it’s really just a matter of priorities.
Who, exactly, is the constituency arguing for an extended American presence? Anyone who doesn’t have a vested interest in the mission for the mission’s sake?
mikey
Exactly, Spencer. The memo in a sense backs up everything we’ve been seeing — ISF giving US troops a hard time, setting up road blocks, attacking the MEK compound, etc. The ISF and GOI have probably reached some sort of comfort level where they feel they can get the job done without American assistance, and I think they’re probably (mostly) right, as Col. Reese points out. The issue is, even if they can keep a lid on catastrophic violence, are the Iraqi people willing to put up with a couple car bombs a month and a largely ineffective government? And then there’s the biggest elephant in the room: the 90,000 armed, increasingly angry Sons of Iraq. Can the ISF handle that job on its own? They seem to think they can, but I imagine their methods won’t involve drinking lots of chai.
Not even to mention 400,000 experienced, well-equipped, disciplined Peshmerga that will resist the GOI’s attempt to exert control over Kurdistan.
mikey
Sounds like there are more guns in the hands of Iraqi citizens than Chicago criminals (and that’s a lot of damn weaponry). Sorry about the scoop but an important discussion. Let’s try not to forget Iraq while we obsess over beers, America, ok? For our troops and theirs, and people desperate for relief from fighting, many difficult moments lay ahead.
But Spencer, why would you worry about being “scooped?” That’s a “journalism” slang word, and we all know bloggers aren’t real journalists./s
(ducking)
Meanwhile, Zachary Roth scoops everyone and reveals Col. Reese as an unhinged wingnut.
“A senior American military adviser in Baghdad, whose memo arguing that the U.S. should leave Iraq is currently the top story on the New York Times website, is also the author of an unhinged online screed against health-care reform.
The health-care post, by Colonel Timothy Reese, sketches far-fetched scenarios about forced abortions and accuses President Obama of being “deceitful” in telling Americans they can keep their doctor under his plan. Its harsh tone raises questions about an active duty officer inserting himself into the political arena. And it suggests that that his widely-publicized military advice — which was posted on the same blog as the health-care post — should perhaps be treated more skeptically than is currently being done.
…Of course, Reese’s views on health care don’t necessarily reflect on his credentials as a military strategist. Having been on active duty for almost 30 years, it would hardly be surprising if he were better informed about our mission in Iraq than about health care.
But if nothing else, it’s worth knowing a bit more about him, and about his approach to thinking about important issues of the day.”
Feel better now, Spencer?