[joesnuffy]

Iraq isn't for tourists

Posted: December 2, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 David H. Hackworth

George Bush hit the mark when he visited our troops
in Iraq on Turkey Day. He's the Main Man, and his
daring and dangerous trip told our warriors he cared
and was with them all the way.

Commanders – and especially the commander in chief
– inspire soldiers, and it's their duty to beat feet to
the front whenever they can. But not senior staff
weenie wannabe-warriors back in the rear with all
the gear – straphangers who are into cluttering up
battlefields such as Iraq mainly for the braggin' rights.

Such visits usually balloon into a bloody waste of
commander and staff time, as the folks running the
combat show are ripped away from their primary
purpose of leading their units to lay on fancy
briefings that inevitably involve rehearsals,
pre-inspections and visits to subordinate units. We're
talking literally hundreds if not thousands of soldiers
setting war-fighting aside to jump through irrelevant,
costly, got-to-get-things-shaped-up hoops.

Not to mention the misuse of critical assets needed to
hunt down guerrillas – helicopters and airplanes
assigned to move the VIPs around, as well as the
soldiers and combat gear seconded to secure the
stops along the scenic route.

Staffers in every fighting division in Iraq have
complained to me that there are just too many visiting
firemen sashaying around Iraq these days on
ego-driven trips that accomplish nothing except to put
our troops at additional risk and interfere with their
ability to perform critical combat jobs.

Take, for example, the November visit to Iraq of the
Army's top Pentagon lawyer, Maj. Gen. Thomas J.
Romig, accompanied by three personal staffers.
According to the Pentagon, the purpose of his trip
was "To assess the provision of legal services, look at
integration of RC (Reserve Component) soldiers in
our operations, talk with commanders, look at both
traditional and nontraditional legal issues, gather
lessons learned ... and check on the status of our
soldiers and our equipment."

Sounds cricket. But lawyers can always figure out the
right words to fit almost any agenda. Romig's case
for his trip to a guerrilla battlefield was that he had
"nearly 400 JAG (legal beagles) personnel – officer,
enlisted, warrant officer, both active and reserve
component – in Iraq."

With senior generals in both the Pentagon and Iraq
blessing the mission, the Army's top judge slipped on
his combat gear and flew off to play at war games to
the sounds of real guns.

But on Nov. 7, Romig's combat mission turned into a
nightmare when one of the two Black Hawk
helicopters transporting him and his posse was blown
out of the sky. Romig's assistants Chief Warrant
Officer Sharon T. Swartworth and Sgt. Maj. Cornell
W. Gilmore were killed along with the entire Black
Hawk crew – Capt. Benedict J. Smith, Chief Warrant
Officer Kyran E. Kennnedy and Sgts. Paul M. Neff
and Scott C. Rose.

The deaths of these fine soldiers demand answers to
the following questions:

Was this trip necessary, and who exactly
approved it at the Pentagon and in Iraq?

Why was the helicopter that got shot down
flying in a straight line at an altitude of about
250 feet over an area known to harbor
rocket-toting guerrillas?

Why did Romig require two Black Hawks for
his party of four when one can carry 10
combat-loaded grunts?

When a Pentagon staffer tried to equivocate and told
me it was "to spread the risk," I couldn't help laughing
out loud.

"Spread the risk, my butt," I told him. "And stop
trying to BS me. The second chopper had a warrant
officer and a sergeant on board, not two more
generals."

Then I told him what I'd already heard from my
sources – that "the general required two choppers
because he and his staff had so much baggage."

Well, my bet is Maj. Gen. Romig will be toting the
baggage from this disaster for the rest of his life.
After all, he and the generals who approved his
boondoggle – and who should know better – are
responsible for six soldiers dying.

Iraq isn't a Disneyland Middle East fun destination
for high-ranking tourists looking to play paint ball.

As George Bush reminded us on Thanksgiving by the
extremely cautious way in which he went about his
rightful duty, Iraq is presently one of the most
perilous places in the world.




Col. David H. Hackworth, author of his new best-selling
"Steel My Soldiers' Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About
Face," has seen duty or reported as a sailor, soldier and
military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and
conflicts – from the end of World War II to the recent
fights against international terrorism.

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

In this case, Hack is correct. Iraq is a war zone, not a place to visit. Bush did it right by visiting the troops and then getting out of there. He had the right balance of bravado and caution. My only question...

Why didn't they effect the trade of Hillary for Saddam? She wore the right kind of pants suits. I would have thought she was dressed right.

Hoppy

[nothingnew]

Thanks for posting the WHOLE article joe. I have an old and overtaxed comp with landline ISP.

FMCDH

[OldCorps]

Hack is on target. The army JAGoff went to Iraq on a boondoogle. Just shows how pervasive these liar types are, even in the army. The man now has some dead soldiers on his conscience. Being the lawyer that he is, he probably doesn't give a damn.

[x1stcav]

I'll be Damned!

Finally, after two or more years, a pertinent, poignant, logical, well-written article by Hack.

Welcome home, Colonel.