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Rearranging the Deck Chairs
There has been a furious rearranging of the deck chairs on the Ship of State of late, but you’re not being given the whole story. Nosiree.
Not to worry. Your Faithful Correspondent is here to tell you what’s gotting lost in the translation:
What You’re Being Told: General George Casey is losing his job as the top military commander in Iraq because President Bush thinks he was more focused on troop withdrawals than victory.
Translation: Casey opposed the forthcoming “surge.”
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7 Responses to “Rearranging the Deck Chairs”
Shaun- From what I understand, Casey and Abizaid are being replaced because the WH wants leaders who are not overly concerned that the military is being stretched too thin by our commitment in Iraq. Also, Casey and Abizaid were there for “Operation Together Forward” and believe the surge won’t work this time for the same reasons that it didn’t work last time. I agree with them.
I guess if the president appoints new leadership that agrees with the policy, he can again claim with some truth that he listens to his commanders on the ground.
In regards to superdestroyer’s comment to you on your blog about GEN Casey’s demise, I am not really sure what his/her point is. It was reported already that Casey was to retire in a few months, but this latest plan has hurried the departure date. This treatment is eerily similar to what was done to GEN Shinseki, and observes how that whole neo-con production of setting boundaries on a person who disagreed with their paradigm is treated.
I must have missed something about Casey’s new job, when was it reported that he was to take GEN Schoomaker’s position (CSA)?
In regard’s to Ms. Ritter’s comment about “Operation Together Forward�, did the Coalition ever complete constructing the moat around Baghdad? I had not seen anything about the “shovel and pitch� plan lately.
What really puzzles me about the “rearranging the deck chairs� are three things –
1. Why is a naval guy taking charge of CENTCOM? Granted he has the same number of stars as Abizaid has on his lapel, but this scheme is right up there with placing a four-star army general in charge of naval operations in PACCOM. There has been some rivalry between the marines and army one side and the navy and air force on the other side – especially with the USAF and USN wanting to show more shock and awe campaigns. Why pick a person that has no experience of ground operations, as well as part of group where the paradigm is to use technological devices over the muscles of men? Haven’t we already been done this avenue already?
2. Negroponte is moving again? The man is basically getting his ticket punched to move up the ladder, but he has no time in his previous positions to show any successes. Just read Woodward’s “State of Denial� about Negroponte and his desire to get out of Dodge (aka Iraq) as fast as possible.
3. In regards to Miers, what is to stop Congress from calling her up to testify? Just because she quit her job, it does not give her blanket immunity to testify or prosecution (if it ever progressed that far). I would suspect she will not be able to claim “executive privilege� and has now lost some protection to testify because she has left the job.
I am not sure if you remember our conversation a few weeks ago where we were talking about the additional troops either falling into one of two categories: “teeth� and “tail�. I had placed an update on that thread’s comment section. I had found an Excel spreadsheet showing the breakdown of the US military into many sub-categories. It turns out historically, the US Army only has a force in the field no greater than 40% (and I am giving more % as a fudge factor) that are considered “teeth�. Let’s say 20,000 troops were sent into the field, and the number of folks to do infantry tasks was to be increased from 40% to an opportunistic value of 60%, that means at least 8,000 troops are doing tasks to support the guys and gals doing patrols.
http://www.armytimes.com/static.php?f=1204deployment.php
ES,
The Army Times is reporting that Casey will be the next Chief of Staff of the Army. http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2464772.php.
Also, The CENTCOM commander is not involved in tactical operations in Iraq. That is something for which Casey has responsbility and Lt. Gen. David Petraeus will have resonsbility for in the future.
I also looked for information on Congressional subpoenas. From what I understand it is very easy for a private citizen to ignore them.
Two possibilities
1. There is a NAVY guy at CENTCOM b/c CENTCOM covers a huge swath of area. Including Iran. If we are going to hit Irans nuclear facilities, it will be a massive air campain staged out of the Persian Gulf. My tinfoil anetenna say this is step 1 for attacking Iran.
2. The simple solution is Fallon is that Bush needed some one at CENTCOM who hasn`t said that a surge would be a bad idea. That disculifies most of the top ARMY brass. Bush turned to the NAVY.
I have my tinfoil hat on. I think Bush is going to REALLY double down.
Profbacon- Once you figure out how this administration thinks, it gets easier to interpret their decisions, doesn’t it? I knew when Gates went to Iraq and was interviewing the military leadership and the troops that he would come back and say there were many over there that agreed with the president about the surge. Its a move to create some doubt in the credibility of Casey, Abizaid and the JCS. They can say those that are over there and that are in a position to know consider the surge a good idea.