US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told

[cal04]

Senior British diplomatic and military staff gave Tony Blair explicit warnings three years ago that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq, according to leaked memos. John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures. With unusual frankness, he described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as "an unbelievable mess" and said "Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth".

That assessment is reinforced by Major General Albert Whitley, the most senior British officer with the US land forces. Gen Whitley, in another memo later that summer, expressed alarm that the US-British coalition was in danger of losing the peace. "We may have been seduced into something we might be inclined to regret. Is strategic failure a possibility? The answer has to be 'yes'," he concluded. The memos were obtained by Michael Gordon, author, along with General Bernard Trainor, of Cobra II: the Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, published to coincide with the third anniversary of the invasion.

The British memos identified a series of US failures that contained the seeds of the present insurgency and anarchy.
The mistakes include:

· A lack of interest by the US commander, General Tommy Franks, in the post-invasion phase.
· The presence in the capital of the US Third Infantry Division, which took a heavyhanded approach to security.
· Squandering the initial sympathy of Iraqis.
· Bechtel, the main US civilian contractor, moving too slowly to reconnect basic services, such as electricity and water.
· Failure to deal with health hazards, such as 40% of Baghdad's sewage pouring into the Tigris and rubbish piling up in the streets.
· Sacking of many of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party, even though many of them held relatively junior posts.


Mr Sawers, in a memo titled Iraq: What's Going Wrong, written on May 11, four days after he had arrived in Baghdad, is uncompromising about the US administration in Baghdad. He wrote: "No leadership, no strategy, no coordination, no structure and inaccessible to ordinary Iraqis."

more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1730427,00.html

[cliss]

1. Can you imagine?

Here, that fool Tony Blair gets up and repeatedly blasts away, fighting vigorously against all opposition. And the Whole Time, he knows it's a complete and total failure. What a liar.

What a creep. If that doesn't shatter your faith in "leaders" permanently, I don't know what will.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. This is damning in so many ways. What a mess. n/t

[sabra]

3. US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told (More Downing St. Memos)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1730429,00.html

US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told

Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Tuesday March 14, 2006
The Guardian

Senior British diplomatic and military staff gave Tony Blair explicit warnings three years ago that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq, according to leaked memos.

John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures. With unusual frankness, he described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as "an unbelievable mess" and said "Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth".

That assessment is reinforced by Major General Albert Whitley, the most senior British officer with the US land forces. Gen Whitley, in another memo later that summer, expressed alarm that the US-British coalition was in danger of losing the peace. "We may have been seduced into something we might be inclined to regret. Is strategic failure a possibility? The answer has to be 'yes'," he concluded.

The memos were obtained by Michael Gordon, author, along with General Bernard Trainor, of Cobra II: the Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, published to coincide with the third anniversary of the invasion.

[LynnTheDem]

4. "strategic failure" has already happened.

Exactly as the world (and most all top military brass & ME experts predicted BEFORE bush & bLair's invasion of an innocent sovereign nation}had warned.

[cal04]

5. Memo: 'An unbelievable mess'

'An unbelievable mess': Memo from John Sawer, Blair's special envoy to Iraq after Saddam's overthrow

Confidential

Personal from special rep for Iraq

For:

No 10: Powell, Manning, Campbell, Rycroft

FCO: PS/SOS, PS/O'Brien, PUS, Ricketts, E m, Chaplin, Chilcott

Subject: Personal: Iraq: What's Going Wrong?

(snip)
Subject: Personal: Iraq: What's Going Wrong?

1. A Baghdad First strategy is needed. The problems are worst in the capital, and it is the one place we can't afford to get it wrong. But the troops here are tired and are not providing the security framework needed. We need a clear policy on which Ba'athists can return, a more concerted effort on reconstruction, and an imaginative approach on the media. For all this, money needs to be released by Washington. The clock is ticking.

(snip)
Security
6. A big part of the problem is the US Third Infantry Division. They fought a magnificent war and now just want to go home. Unlike more mobile US units they are sticking to their heavy vehicles and are not inclined to learn new techniques. Our Paras company at the embassy witnessed a US tank respond to (harmless) Kalashnikov fire into the air from a block of residential flats by firing three tank rounds into the building. Stories are numerous of US troops sitting on tanks parked in front of public buildings while looters go about their business behind them. Every civilian who approaches a US checkpoint is treated as a potential suicide bomber. Frankly, the 3rd Inf Div need to go home.


(snip)
Funds and public sector salaries
15. Finally, money needs to be available, not least to pay police officers and public service workers. This is held up in Washington. The US administration are refusing to release Iraqi money to pay salaries. Decisions are needed on salary levels and which currency should be used.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1730423,00.html

[Barrett808]

6. Story being freeped on Yahoo:

Currently 2/5 stars:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060314/wl_mideast_afp/britainusiraqwarpoliticsmilitary