democracyarsenal.org: Even More Petraeus

June 04, 2007

Even More Petraeus
Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

Colonel Boylan, General Petraeus's spokesman, wrote back again. I'm enjoying this exchange and since it's only fair that we get equal time I'm posting his comments to the main section. I'll respond soon

Ian,

Mai Culpa. Please let me introduce myself, COL Steve Boylan Spokesman and Public Affairs Officer for GEN Petraeus. I have completed over two years of being a spokesman in Iraq. Almost two years as the Coalition Press Information Center Director and now in my role as GEN Petraeus’ spokesman, which I returned with him from Fort Leavenworth. I thought that using my real name vs a screen name would have been enough, as you can find me quoted and resourced on line easily.

So there is no confusion, let me define inaccurate, so we can work from a common base. There are three things that can be considered inaccuracies. The first is easy, facts are facts and if they are wrong then that is in accurate. 2+2=5, this is inaccurate.

Second, placing quotes out of context is inaccurate, usually the writer is using it for their own gains to make a point, when in fact they know what he has said and when they said it, but if carried in that situation does not help their argument. The general said all “troops are redeploying” tomorrow, when the general said to the 1-34 IN that “your troops are redeploying tomorrow”, this is inaccurate.

Third, mischaracterizing a situation would also be inaccurate. Saying “The soldier turned and cold bloodedly shot the man” when the situation is the soldier shot the man who was about to throw a grenade into the vehicle, this would be inaccurate.

So what is inaccurate about your fist post. One you have acknowledged, but there are three things in particular, the general “injecting” himself into politics, your characterization of briefings to congress, and military leaders moving the goal posts.

First you and Korb both say that the piece written by Gen Petraeus was “misleading” when in fact the article is a series of facts about the conditions on the ground at that time. Everything from Iraqi’s stepping up to lead forces, to conducting operations, to dying as they defend their country. The same command that he writes about has now assisted the Iraqi Government in establishing the security forces well beyond the capabilities it had then. The Ministries of Defense and Interior, which MNSTC-I supports, now have budgets and budget cycles; divisions not brigades; they are establishing themselves as the most professional organizations in the government. They are not perfect, in some cases they are corrupt, but then look at Chicago, New York or almost any major city in the US at some point in history. They have had corruption and they worked through it.

LTG Dempsey, the outgoing commander of MNSTC-I will be briefing congress later this month. I encourage you to watch or read his assessment to see how far the Iraqi’s have come and how far they have to go. If GEN Petraeus’ piece was off, they would not have been able to support the organizations into what they are now.

Your next concern was how many op-eds he has published. I was able to find three letters to the editors that were published over the last five years. The one you refer to and two others one in the weekly standard and The Record in Bergen County New Jersey. He has also written a number of other items that have shown up in the media, like his letters to the troops and the Iraqi people, which were picked up by newspapers and on line resources. Which this demonstrates an important point. The general can write any number of letters to the editor, whether they are published or not, is up to the papers editors, not the general.

Interestingly you feel that by having one op-ed published in one newspaper is somehow supporting a political position is a false assumption on your part. Now, if that letter had been published in every major and every regional paper in the U.S. at the time, then you might have something, but a one-time letter without a series of follow ups just doesn’t equal what you and Korb propose.

Finally, comparing the GEN to an employee is like calling a CEO a private. This is gross misrepresentation of his position and the requirements placed before him. The general, like any CEO will provide to the Board of Directors, will brief his assessment in this case to the President, to Congress and more importantly to the American public. Specifically what he said he would do is “that in early September, Ambassador Ryan Crocker and I would provide an assessment of the situation in Iraq with respect to our mission and offer recommendations on the way ahead.“ He added that “We will be forthright in that assessment, as I believe I have been with you today.” This is from his opening statement to congress which he read to the pentagon press corps back in April. (http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3951) Although I am not sure how Julian Barnes article is disturbing, I can say that we have been saying all along that September will be an assessment with recommendations.

However, since we live in a world of good and evil, there are others that will be predetermined to have us provide a bleak assessment of the future. If you are disturbed by the fact that the media is perhaps self correcting the misperception they initially played out to the public as to what we will be briefing in September, because we have not changed what we are said about this in any major fashion. We have one addition to commenting on what we believe our enemy’s will try to do. We expect that al Qaeda, foreign fighters, the fractured elements of JAM, and others will certainly use this summer as a time to increase attacks on coalition forces, Iraqi Forces and the Iraqi people. They are focused on the American public’s desire to have its men and women come home. We are seeing the Iraqi’s start to step up and say that this is unacceptable in places like al Anbar, part of Baghdad, and al Amiryah, and there could be more.

But, you bring up a valid point, trust but verify is not a bad practice. Over the past three months we have had a number of congressmen on the ground from both parties and all perspectives on the war. We expect this to continue through the summer. We expect that the GAO will be here, per directions in the supplemental. We provide pretty much unlimited access to the media, in fact, we have more units requesting them to come to their locations than there are reporters to cover the stories. We will also provide information directly to the public, just as I am doing now, or how we provide information on youtube or on our own website.

GEN Petraeus has said that the operational environment in Iraq is the most complex and challenging he has ever seen -- much more complex than it was when he left last in September 2005, and vastly more complex than what I recall in Central America, Haiti and the Balkans in previous tours in those locations. He has brought a number of people in, as mentioned by SoldiernolongerinIraq. I mentioned this in my last post and will say it again, this is an assessment made by commanders and leaders who have now spent years in Iraq on multiple tours. They will provide their assessment to GEN Petraeus and he will present this to the President, the Congress and American people in September.

June 04, 2007 at 02:55 PM | Permalink

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June 04, 2007

Even More Petraeus
Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

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June 04, 2007

Even More Petraeus Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

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Even More Petraeus
Posted by Ilan Goldenberg