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How Petraeus changed U.S. military
CNN ^ | Sunday, November 11, 2012 | Peter Bergen

Posted on 11/11/2012 6:47:17 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

Historians will likely judge David Petraeus to be the most effective American military commander since Eisenhower.

He was, after all, the person who, more than any other, brought Iraq back from the brink of total disaster after he assumed command of U.S. forces there in 2007.

To understand how daunting a task that was, recall that when Petraeus took over in Iraq, the country was embroiled in a civil war so vicious that civilians were dying at the rate of 90 a day.

Iraq's government itself was fueling the violence because the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior was home to a number of Shia death squads.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda's brutal Iraqi affiliate was recruiting hundreds of suicide attackers from around the Middle East who went on to kill thousands in Iraq.

As a result of this mayhem, some 5 million Iraqis -- around a fifth of the population fled the country or went into internal exile.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: benghazi; navyseals; threatmatrix; threatmatrixbenghazi
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1 posted on 11/11/2012 6:47:18 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

P4 was apparently a tactically brilliant nation builder/pacifier who attracted an intelligent soldier who wanted to be within the circle and launch a career off those insights.


2 posted on 11/11/2012 6:55:40 PM PST by Paladin2 (.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

This is a subject to revisit in 20 years.

Who is in charge of gunrunning to radical Islamists?


3 posted on 11/11/2012 7:05:53 PM PST by petitfour
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To: petitfour

I think the better bet is Rumsfeld.

Idiot.


4 posted on 11/11/2012 7:12:58 PM PST by x1stcav (Breathe deep the gathering gloom.)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: MinorityRepublican

CNN, too funny, after Odumba’s win, I think i’ll get my news from Pravada, or better yet North Korea!


6 posted on 11/11/2012 7:20:55 PM PST by IslamE (epiphany)
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To: MinorityRepublican

He had a good idea in Iraq. It hasn’t worked so well in Afghanistan but he applied it anyway because it was HIS good idea.

He was OK as a military guy. Not a genius. Although I’m pretty sure he thought he was a genius.


7 posted on 11/11/2012 7:23:42 PM PST by Mr Rogers (America is becoming California, and California is becoming Detroit. Detroit is already hell.)
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To: x1stcav

Thank you...I was too busy gagging on this to think of such a rational answer


8 posted on 11/11/2012 7:24:41 PM PST by Nifster
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To: Mr Rogers

I prefer Stormin Norman who seemed to understand overwhelming force better than anyone (including his pansy a%% boss)....that highway of death should have gone ALL the way to Bagdad. That would have been the end of the story.

I have always been underwhelmed by Petreaus but that’s just me. He sure as hell ain’t no Patton. And for the record Eisenhower was a really good manager he wasn’t that great as a tactician


9 posted on 11/11/2012 7:28:14 PM PST by Nifster
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To: MinorityRepublican

Afghanistan has lasted long than WWII.. so there have been no Generals worth spit there.. NONE..
They are all idiots.... -OR- a few could just be morons..

Totally hamstrung by politics.. including George Bush..
MAybe politics emasculated including being morons..


10 posted on 11/11/2012 7:31:57 PM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: x1stcav

Huh?

I don’t think Petraeus is gunrunning.


11 posted on 11/11/2012 7:34:03 PM PST by petitfour
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To: MinorityRepublican
Petraeus brought to the war the brilliant insight that when you don't have enough troops to guard strong points and attack the enemy at the same time, the solution is to send more troops. In other words, not particularly earth-shaking or even original. His particular genius was being able to sell GWB on the concept of adding reinforcements, where Westmoreland had supposedly failed in Vietnam.

In reality, just as Westmoreland's troop buildup had crushed the Vietcong, the politicians decided to withdraw, leaving the field open to a conventional invasion from the North. In Iraq, as in Vietnam, I'd argue that the insurgents were never in a position to to win, and the main threat was one of invasion. The difference in Iraq was that there's no way Iran could have invaded, without us responding, given the stranglehold on Gulf oil resources it would have given the Iranians.

12 posted on 11/11/2012 7:34:10 PM PST by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Mr Rogers

Lets be honest. The man who turned the Iraq war around was Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening. He payed for it with his blood. If he didn’t rally the Anbar tribes to our side that mess would not of turned out well. It would have been a lot easier and less costlier in blood if we just turned the place over to another strongman who was willing to play ball with us, for a very large stipend.


13 posted on 11/11/2012 7:35:00 PM PST by gusty
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To: Zhang Fei

Petraeus also decided it would be a good idea to have the troops get out of their armored vehicles more for the old hearts and minds crap. Result? More of our guys getting their legs and other parts blown off. In spite of the obvious stupidity of this move, the policy was continued for quite a while.

When Petraeus saw that Afghanistan was starting to deteriorate, he turned it over to some other guy and came back to the US as the conquering hero.

He’s a self-promoting jerk.


14 posted on 11/11/2012 7:42:15 PM PST by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Pining_4_TX

No one have ever been able to pacify Afghanistan so I wouldn’t blame General Petraeus.


15 posted on 11/11/2012 8:01:02 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
Actually Abdur Rahman, the Iron Emir, pretty much did in the latter decades of the 19th century. But then his methods would not please the chattering classes today.
16 posted on 11/11/2012 9:39:15 PM PST by robowombat
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To: Nifster

Petraeus attacked our rights of Freedom of Speech, when he went after the Florida pastor, instead of focusing on killing the enemy in Afghanistan.


17 posted on 11/11/2012 9:42:49 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator

Yup. And just another reason I am not a big fan. He changed the ROE in Afghanistan and our troops suffered. He did not defend our guys he willingly threw them to the dogs. I am not impressed by him at all


18 posted on 11/11/2012 10:05:02 PM PST by Nifster
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To: Pining_4_TX
Petraeus also decided it would be a good idea to have the troops get out of their armored vehicles more for the old hearts and minds crap. Result? More of our guys getting their legs and other parts blown off. In spite of the obvious stupidity of this move, the policy was continued for quite a while.

Well, Petraeus and Omugabe both still have their legs and other body parts, right?

So what's the problem?

19 posted on 11/11/2012 10:36:20 PM PST by publius911 (Formerly Publius 6961, formerly jennsdad)
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To: petitfour; annieokie; penelopesire; maggief; Protect the Bill of Rights; thouworm; SE Mom; ...
petraeus WAS gunrunning. Bank on it.

For those who are interested:

Anyone wanting on or off this ping list, please advise.


Benghazi Index

20 posted on 11/12/2012 1:23:47 AM PST by MestaMachine
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