V corp General sounds like defeatist.

Wash Post via MSNBC | 2003-03-28 | Rick Atkinson

[jerod]

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHELL, Iraq, March 27 — The Army’s senior ground commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, said today that overextended supply lines and a combative adversary using unconventional tactics have stalled the U.S. drive toward Baghdad and increased the likelihood of a longer war than many strategists had anticipated. “THE ENEMY WE’RE FIGHTING is different from the one we’d war-gamed against,” Wallace, commander of V Corps, said during a visit to the 101st Airborne Division headquarters here in central Iraq.

[jerod]

Wallace wasn't prepared for guys with Pick-Up trucks and 50 cal. machine guns? And firing guns in the air is tough?

This guy sounds like an freaking idiot. I'm not in the military, but if were, I'd certainly would hope that I was more prepared than this guy. Wallace must of rose to the top while Clinton was the Commander in Chief.

[Huck]

I'd have to agree with you.

[Mister Baredog]

Wallace must of rose to the top while Clinton was the Commander in Chief.

I would bet the ranch that you are right about that!

[smith288]

This guy is a pu$$y not worthy of this battle. He sounds like he was drafted and doesnt want to be there.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

jerod: You're mistaken about the great William Jefferson Blythe Clinton... Why he just recently assured Democrats that this war was going to be a cakewalk (taken from a wonderful Andrew Sullivan rant) WILLIAM CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: "This war is going to be over in a flash, so we can wait to do that. You can always kill somebody next week. You can't bring them back next week, so..." (APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

So this General must not have paid attention to the former POTUS.

Hopefully, Wallace is over-reacting but why he is spouting off like this is a real mystery.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

It seems to me that toppling Saddam, who has maintained power for thirty years, was never supposed to be easy, otherwise he would have been gone a long time ago.

And, second, the scattered pickup trucks with machine guns seem so reminiscent of Afghanistan, that I can only wonder why anyone would be surprised to see them. The guerilla warfare is also the obvious tactic.

Did they expect Saddam's forces to line up in neat little rows, so that our planes can target them from the air, without our Marines and Army engaging in battle on the ground?

Or, better yet, were we supposed to be targeting Saddam's Naval Fleet? (I hear his subs are in the Great Lakes, no wonder why they haven't engaged us in battle. :) )

[meenie]

50 cal. machine guns are still the most effective mechanical weapons against low flying aircraft. Radar and missiles controlled by radar have the disadvantage of being easily picked up by electonic surveillence.

[craig_eddy]

Appointed V Corps commander in June, 2001.

Official bio here.

[Snerdley]

sounds like he wasn't expecting to see stupid or juvinile attack tacktics from the RG (pickups againt tanks). Seems we all overrated the overall combat effectivness of the elite RG. The press is just spinning this the way they want to, that is, that we are overmatched and may face defeat at any moment.

BTW, who do you think built up the image of the RG being elite and ferrocious? (A. the press). Fits the pattern. When are we going to realize that the greater threat to our goals in Iraq lay not with the RG or Faydeen saddam, but with our own liberals who are advacning on the political front.

[Archangelsk]

I'm not in the military.

No comment. None necessary.

[only1percent]

Three thoughts.

First, good: he sounds like a realist, not a defeatist. It isn't easy to win wars, and it is very necessary to adopt tactics and strategy to the facts on the ground. War is a learning process; those who refuse to learn either lose or win at an unacceptable cost.

Second, sort of bad: since Vietnam, and especially since the end of the Cold War, "force protection" has been a core tactical doctrine of the military. Every soldier's life is precious, but, at the same time, war is inherently bloody: there is no gain without pain. A 2003 three star general has probably has a battalion, brigade and division command under his belt in the past 10-15 years, and in every single one of those commands he was inculcated with force protection as something close to the be-all and end-all of his responsibilities.

Third: very bad. Why is our intelligence so poor? Saddam has been planning for a US invasion for more than a decade. It seems like we lacked the >first idea< of his defensive battle plan. The one thing we know, for sure, about Arab militaries is that company-grade officers and NCOs are not trained to improvise or think independently. Everything we're facing was taught in Saddam's Army, Ba'ath Party militia, and intelligence/secret police schools, and reduced to a clear enough doctrine that it could be implemented despite a significant loss of command and control infrastructure, which has occurred. Why didn't we know?

[Archangelsk]

Three thoughts.

Correction, three very good thoughts.

[Potemkin_village_idiot]

I was listening to General Brooks get his daily dose of biased arrognace this AM at the CENTCOM presser. (This guy should be medaled for something. I don't know how he keeps his cool much less his hand off his sidearm.) Now the 4th estate is using quotes from active field commanders in order to challenge CENTCOM representations about how the conflict is going; 2nd guessing strategies and tactics.

Whether or not there are, in fact, real issues, is irrelevant. They will be solved. There are just entirely too many soldiers both in uniform and retired that need to keep their MOUTHS SHUT when it comes to the press.

[ASA Vet]

Knowing that you'd lose you head at the end of the movie might effect your outlook.

[twigs]

Until I know more, it sounds to me like the only one whining here is the press. From what I can tell, conditions are different than they expected--that's an intelligence error. I highly suspect that this general just made on off-the-cuff observation that has been blown WAY out of proportion by a press looking for ways to criticize the Bush administration. Ever since 9/11, intelligence folks have been saying that we don't have enough on-the-ground Arab eyes and ears. This general probably made a blumder by speaking some thoughts. I'm sure he regrets it now.

[Yankee]

A Marine Colonel on FOX this morning said that these goon squads were "tenacious", however he also said that they are poorly organized and poorly trained and basically just a nuisance.

He described a group of 20 or so that charged an Abrams on foot with AK-47s.

They're waiting on line right now to get their virgins.

I don't know what's up with this guy Wallace, but I know the media, and they'll flock like moths to a flame to someone who'll reinforce their biased viewpoint.

[berserker]

You guys are missing the point of his quote: You wargame to the war plan that you have been given. What he meant was that the Pentagon suit's war plan did not take the Iraqi irregular forces into account (and also assumed that the regular Iraqi army divisions would surrender and not fight back).

[samuel_adams_us]

This guy can't be related to the real william wallace, the scotsman, because this guy doesn't have cahonies between his legs, he also must wear panty hose.

[cynicom]

Wallace will be counting paper clips for a living.

[blam]

"50 cal. machine guns are still the most effective mechanical weapons against low flying aircraft. Radar and missiles controlled by radar have the disadvantage of being easily picked up by electonic surveillence."

We'll adjust and deal with it. It'll be a previous problem shortly.