Since this is the last Sunday Paper for 2007 it seems appropriate to pose a “year in review” sort of question: Who would you pick as “Defensetech’s Newsmaker of the Year”? Why?
My pick is General David Petraeus. From the Surge to the Moveon.org NYT ad, he’s been the man in the middle of this year’s national debate. And do you see Iraq in the headlines this morning? (Bin Laden’s new audiotape doesn’t count …) Temporary fix or whatever, the man has orchestrated some impressive damage control. Another indicator of his impact is that candidates who bring up Iraq while stumping on the trail sound about six months removed from current events … and that’s why you hear them talking about it less and less. I’m not saying we won, I’m just saying …
Anyway Petraeus is my pick. Who’s yours?
– Ward
I would have to agree with you on Petraeus. His name will probably be forever associated with the Iraq war, like Eisenhower with WWII or Pershing with WWI.
What? Not the Dragonskin guys?
Petraeus is a good choice. Another good choice isn’t a person but a “thing”; the MRAP. I think Petraeus may be the defensetech newsmaker of the entire iraq conflict, but it seems like during this particular year that around every corner that was heated discussion on every aspect of the MRAP (requirements, cost, DX rating, fielding heirarchy, etc).
I think Petraeus’s impact on the military goes far beyond Iraq. The dramatic results from his change in strategy there have changed the way the Pentagon does business. SecDef Gates has shifted the Army from a mainly conventional war outlook to COINOPS ( http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-army10oct10,0,6610262.story ), and Petraeus will have a hand in choosing the next generation of generals ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111602258.html ). It looks like the Pentagon’s Civil War is over,( http://westhawk.blogspot.com/2006/09/civil-war-at-pentagon.html ) and the snake-eaters have won.
Hard to see Petraeus having too much impact beyond outside parochial US interests. If Iraq doesn’t end too disastrously then he might have a political career, but how optimistic do you have tyo be to think that?
Putin, on the other hand, has had a spectacular 2007 and is a truly global newsmaker on the defense front. Watch out, world…
ExurbanKevin,
A very diplomatic wtf!
“The dramatic results from his change in strategy there have changed the way the Pentagon does business. SecDef Gates has shifted the Army from a mainly conventional war outlook to COINOPS“
Petraeus can be the “face” of the surge strategy but lets be real with this ok? The Army as an institution was stating quite clearly and at all levels that the Rumsfeld way of war was not working and that a shift to a counterinsurgency type model was in order. It was talked about at every school and university throughout the military from the SNCO to the Officer Corps. I’ll play along and say that if we must have a figure head then Petraeus is the guy but lets not deem him a modern day Patton. The person of the year in clear thinking terms are the Iraqi Sunni’s. They’ve basically gotten a Balkanized Iraq with American aid, are in a position to determine the outcome of the next US presidential election (a few well timed car bombing with an increase in casualties can wreck things for the Republicans) and have the future “image” of an American president in the palms of their hands.
I’d pick the guys developing laser weapons.
Gotta be the dragonskin guys. Everyone knows their armor cures cancer for those who wear it, in addition to stopping main tank gun rounds. Now if only they could get the scales to stick on in the desert heat…
“(a few well timed car bombing with an increase in casualties can wreck things for the Republicans)“
Ah yes, the ol’ “here comes another Tet to ruin the day!” strawman. Are you cheering for this, or cautioning against this? It’s hard to tell…
And the idea that the Sunnis spontaneously decided to stop the insurgency and throw their lot in with the US is kinda like saying the Moon spontaneously decided to be there when Apollo 11 landed on it.
If you insist, I will go so far as to say the real hero of all of this is General Charles Krulak, whose ideas of “Three Block War” and the “Strategic Corporal” are the ideological underpinnings of the surge.
Is he Patton? Well, considering he literally wrote to the book on counter-insurgency, it would take a “willing suspension of disblief” (to coin a phrase) that the success in the Surge came without him at the helm of our forces.
It looks like the Pentagon’s Civil War is over, and the snake-eaters have won.
Yeah, that about guarantees the next major war will be a set-piece battlefield. Taiwan anyone?
General P didn’t write the book on counterinsurgency, actually what he did was rewrite what was already in existence and tailor it to the current situation that we’re involved in. That book that you talk about has been around in basic forms since the late 1930’s in the form of the Marine’s Small Wars Manual and volumes written by the Army. Lessons learned had been circulating long before it was formalized and the personnel on the ground actually involved in the fighting, began providing solutions to problems that were finally embraced by the Pentagon. Remember this also –General Shinseki actually was far ahead of General P and called for a far larger footprint than was sent, even before the first bullet had been fired. Like I said if you want a poster boy for the surge then alright but lets be real about it.
Oh and have you heard of the Sunni awakening? Thats exactly what they did.
You want to give it to Bush’s sock puppet?
Yes lets hear it for the man who ‘lost’ 100,000 AK47’s.
Woo hoo!
I think Sattar Al-Risha qualifies. He pretty much brought about the Anbar Awakening. No amount of surge can compensate for locals not pulling the trigger on Americans.
Gen. Petraeus is fair more consequential than Generalissimo Putin. Hard to argue against Petraeus. But there would be no Petraeus without President Bush.
I nominate Bush. The guy has moxie, he persevered when others gave up(Hillraiser, Obama, Edwards, Pelosi, Reid, almost the entire Democratic Party).
I find it interesting that many now are singing Hosannas to Gen. Petraeus while ignoring the CIC. Its like Grant getting credit for winning the Civil War and Lincoln credited as a potted plant.
Petraeus more consequential that Putin — how do you figure that? Who outside the US or Iraq has even heard of him?
He had the guts to admit that the US is not winning in Iraq, and his actions will hopefully mitigate the situation there, but it’s still just a matter of how long before US troops pull out, not how long before the insurgents are defeated.
Whereas Putin has stamped his name on a lot of things. Talk of a new cold war is way premature, but he has done more than anyone to shift back to a multipolar world. And then there’s the Litvinenko assassination…
Whocares…
Its easy to press on with a flawed strategy especially when it isn’t your ass on the line. You go to war with the Army you have when their were a lack of MRAPs, failure to reinforce troop levels when a private out of bootcamp could have told you more people were needed? Yeah, we should be proud, not!
Nope.…Petreaus was simply the person chose to pimp the Bush war plan, and anyone else could have done it.
I’d say either Musharraf or Bhutto, for destabilizing a nuclear armed nation.
Wembley,
The Litvenenko assassination was in 2006. This is the newsmaker of 2007. And who outside of the US and Iraq has heard of him? Well, that guy from Australia like 3 posts earlier has heard of him. Last I checked, Australia was not the US or Iraq. Putin has certainly made a lot of news, but not nearly as much as Petraeus *within the US*. Since Defensetech is a US-based organization, I’d say that’s enough to qualify him right there. Iraq has been a far bigger concern domestically than Russia, and Petraeus has been the biggest “hero” to come out of this.
For those who pimp various generals from before the war, again, that’s not 2007.
Ah, Ward wraps up his year by getting taken in — one more time! — by Bush disinfo.
Gotta admire the consistency, if nothing else, Ward. Read this, you guileless putz:
http://www.fredoneverything.net/RalphPeters.shtml
did he invent the pain ray?
sorry folks. terms of impact (U.S. only, Putin fans)…have to go with Rummy. Not GOOD impact, mind, but impact nevertheless.
Solomon, you must think that because mistakes are always made in wars, that political and military leaders are condemned ipso facto by virtue of their rank.
Remember this all of you whining about the war.…over 6000 people die in the United States very day due to accidental death, illness and homicide. That is about 1500 more deaths per day than have been killed in Iraq since 1991. Yes 1991.
But perhaps its not the American death toll that bothers you. Maybe you are pissed about the death toll among the Jihadi’s?
Perhaps too many of them are getting planted in the ground for your tastes?
Hey WHOCARES, guess what? In every other war, those who made mistakes were fired. During the Civil War, WW1 and 2, Vietnam…many generals were fired because they were ineffective. The same applies to civilians in positions of leadership. The main problem with the conduct of this war is that too many are wedded to an ideological belief that a region that has only seen peace briefly can be successfully pacified by US forces. I guess you’re wedded to that philosophy. Pity. The truth of the surge is this…we withdrew ourselves from the Iraqi Civil war and decided that the Sunni’s can have Anhbar, the Shiites the south and the Kurds, the north. So what was actually done and how is General P such a hero? He’s not, he’s just the latest mouth piece for a faulty overall war strategy. You ever hear of a strategic pause? How about marshaling forces for a renewed offensive? If you think that these very issues aren’t being talked about in the halls of the Pentagon, then I’ve got a very nice bridge to sell ya. Lastly, only recently has pointing out that the emperor has no clothes been tantamount to supporting the enemy or wishing for the US to lose. Oh and the US death toll has no place in this conversation. Whether one or a 100,001 Americans dies from accidental death, illness or homicide is a product of individual actions and an act of God. Combat in Iraq was a decision by the President to send US forces to war. Lets be real in this discussion, heads will roll after this cluster and the aftermath of this conflict will be with the American military for years. Just like the Vietnam war did decades ago.
“Putin has certainly made a lot of news, but not nearly as much as Petraeus *within the US*.“
And there you identify a serious problem: US parochialism. Lots of people in the US may not know who runs China, but their ignorance doesn’t make Hu Jintao any less important. Is this a vote for the informed reader, or the ignorant one?
In any case, Putin is still liable to have a lot more impact even in the US than Petraeus. Whether it’s Iran or missile defence, Putin has a big say in what goes down.
Litvinenko was indeed killed in 2006. But it’s a bit of an indication of Putin’s foreign policy, wouldnlt you say?
Interesting link, sglover. Thanks and happy new year.
Remember this also –General Shinseki actually was far ahead of General P and called for a far larger footprint than was sent, even before the first bullet had been fired.
[big yawn] Now tell us how you would have won last night’s NFL game… without going all fuzzy when someone asks you about the Red Zone Offense.
There were valid arguments for not going with a larger footprint. But I know your kind — if we had gone bigger, you would instead be harping that we sent too many logistical peeps and set them up as sitting ducks. You really don’t understand the subject matter, just parroting complaints you’ve read on some propaganda rag to score cheap political shots.
Or maybe not. Here’s a chance to prove your mettle: What is your long-range plan to marginalize radical Islam? 500 words should cover it…
The new year brings for us, yet another quality article. I’ve had a lot of fun reading these.
Fen you arrogant rube!
“Or maybe not. Here’s a chance to prove your mettle: What is your long-range plan to marginalize radical Islam? 500 words should cover it…“
Did you forget the “revolt of the generals”? Amazing that you bring that simplistic non-sense to this board when discussions are being held on subjects that bring you discomfort. I have only one idea and have stated that forcefully here and elsewhere. Brutally crush the opposition, annex oil fields and otherwise wash our hands of the entire region. Oh yes I understand this subject matter (but as I’ve said before) I don’t have an ideological slave mentality to support those who have pushed a failed policy upon our Armed Forces and the American people. Its not wise to question the loyalty of those who DESPISE the way that this war has been conducted. You’ll simply find yourself on the wrong side of history.
Definitely Petraeus!!
A scholar, a general, a hero, and savior to the Iraqis.