Soon after American forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Gen. Tommy R. Franks surprised senior Army officers by revamping the Baghdad-based military command.
The decision reflected the assumption by General Franks, the top American commander for the Iraq invasion, that the major fighting was over. But according to a new Army history, the move put the military effort in the hands of a short-staffed headquarters led by a newly promoted three-star general, and was made over the objections of the Army’s vice chief of staff.
“The move was sudden and caught most of the senior commanders in Iraq unaware,” states the history, which adds that the staff for the new headquarters was not initially “configured for the types of responsibilities it received.”
The story of the American occupation of Iraq has been the subject of numerous books, studies and memoirs. But now the Army has waded into the highly charged debate with its own nearly 700-page account: “On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign.”
These are the opening paragraphs of the full article.
NOTE: The On Point II report link has a download version that should be available 7/1/2008.
Of course we should not be surprised. After all we have been essentially told the same thing by many retried military officials and experts. The Bush Administration screwed up in their assumption that Iraq would be like WWII Paris Liberation. This is just highlights more of just how ignorant they were of Arab, Middle East, environment.
Reminder, the French 'told us so,' on the issue of invading Iraq, before we invaded.
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