The Commander: How Tommy Franks won the Iraq war

The Weekly Standard ^ | 06/02/03 | Fred Barnes

[GretchenEE]

note to self: get back here and read this

[TheLooseThread]

The term "scud" is used by many when referring to any tactical balistic missle.

Where ANY scuds actually found in Iraq?

[jwh_Denver]

Incredible. We may have witnessed one of the greatest military campaigns in history. Patton would have been very proud of this achievement. All military componets melded into one this time with special forces. I'm no expert on war but it seemed to me that this war was being fought the way it should be. I can't wait for more of the details to come out later in books, articles, whatever.

[RippleFire]

bump

[WaterDragon]

Please include me on ya'll's ping lists.

Not long after the Iraq war started, I remember reading in a Turkish newspaper that the Turks thought, with some encouragement from the French, America would have to put off the war if Turkey didn't allow them to send in troops from Turkey. The Turkish columnist said they didn't realize the Americans had a "Plan B"! It was funny in a way, but I was really angry about it.

[RightOnline]

Bump for an excellent post.

[F-117A]

Bump for later reading!

[FreedomPoster]

AM bump for the week crew; great article.

[MeekOneGOP]

A T-shirt for sale by, of all people, General Tommy Franks' first cousin, who attended the Rally.
President Bush and General Franks are from Midland, Texas.

Above can be ordered here:

http://www.texasyeehad.com/

[No Truce With Kings]

Money quote:

"Weeks before the war, American military officers learned from their Turkish counterparts that Turkey was unlikely to allow the U.S. 4th Infantry Division to invade Iraq from Turkey in the north. Such an attack was a critical part of the Franks plan. But absent a northern front, Franks wanted Saddam to think an invasion from Turkish soil was still likely and that the war couldn't begin until weeks after the Turkish issue was resolved. So Franks insisted ships with the 4th Infantry's tanks and equipment remain off the shore of Turkey for weeks, as if awaiting the Turkish okay to unload. In fact, disinformation that the Turks would ultimately permit American troops to operate from their soil was slipped to Saddam's inner circle."

Franks not only had Saddam's inner circle fooled, he had all of us fooled, too. (Admit it now. Honesty is good for the soul.)

And when I reread David (The Hack)sworths's columns criticizing the US for not having enough forces on the ground because we attacked without the 4th ID. . . . well, they now look pretty funny.

Franks would make a great stage magician -- he has already mastered the art of misdirection and sleight of hand necessary. Glad he is on our side!

[JusPasenThru]

Bump for later read.

[MeekOneGOP]

Excellent article! Thanks for the post and the ping, Pokey!

The Commander: How Tommy Franks won the Iraq war

Excerpt:

At the White House, Bush and Vice President Cheney are admirers. They believe Franks is the only general who could have scripted a revolutionary war plan for Iraq, dealt effectively with an overbearing defense secretary, suppressed longstanding rivalries among the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, and directed allied forces to victory in less than three weeks.

Yet Franks, who will retire in July, remains a little-known figure and not quite an identifiable national celebrity. He has gone out of his way to differentiate himself from Schwarzkopf, the high profile Gulf War commander who delivered energetic press briefings almost daily. The press clamored for Franks to brief, but he did so only three times during his weeks in the war zone. When he returned to Tampa last month, there was no victory ceremony or parade. Franks and his top aides were met by their families at the MacDill Air Force Base terminal in Tampa and gathered privately afterwards. There was no TV coverage.

During the war, Franks ordered his subordinates, particularly his civilian public affairs aide, Jim Wilkinson, to talk to reporters and relieve him of that chore. He told aides his constituents were the mothers, fathers, and spouses of the troops in the field. And they wanted him to concentrate on winning the war, not waste time with television interviews. "We got hammered--I mean really hammered--by the press because Franks was invisible," an aide said. "He just didn't care."

After Private Jessica Lynch was snatched from an Iraqi hospital, Franks was wary of publicizing the rescue excessively. He reminded aides of the warning by Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry against spiking the football in the end zone after a touchdown. You don't want to look surprised at having scored. The actual rescue was watched live by Franks's aides on a monitor as it was transmitted by a Predator drone hovering above the hospital. Franks didn't stay up to watch. He went to bed.

RUMSFELD, like Schwarzkopf, is a strong presence. Partly for that reason, the media have given him the bulk of the credit for transforming the American military from a grinding, troop-heavy force into the modern, high-tech powerhouse that sprinted to victory in Iraq. Rumsfeld deserves enormous credit. But Franks was the indispensable man.

Rumsfeld and Franks are opposites. Both have impressive leadership skills, but the defense secretary is outspoken and passionate, Franks terse and unflappable. They did not always get along swimmingly. During the Afghan war, Centcom lawyers dithered over whether a caravan carrying Mullah Omar, the Taliban chieftan, was a legitimate target. By the time they decided it was, it was too late. Mullah Omar got away. Rumsfeld threw a fit, and Franks felt the brunt of it.

A Bush administration official said Franks is "easy to underestimate," and Rumsfeld initially seemed to do just that. He treated Franks like the rest of the military brass. He was brusque and demanding. With Franks, it didn't work. Soon, however, Rumsfeld and his aides concluded Franks was a valuable ally, a bit thin-skinned maybe, but smart and shrewd and able to provide quick answers to virtually any question the defense secretary might have.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest or Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.

Full Texas Ping List . . .

[Rightly Biased]

No time to read anything,This morning too much else to do but must read later Thanx for the ping and all.

RB

[varon]

Bump

[DoctorMichael]

Thank You,

General Franks!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

BUMP

[MeekOneGOP]

My pleasure. Thank you.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin' !
bttt back atcha !

[maxwell]

Hey bro, good stuff, thanks for the pingaling... Just got back in town, working hard this weekend inbetween road-warrioring... (Found the best little smoking lounge / greasy spoon in Albuquerque airport. Hey, when I can sit down and have a smoke, coffee eggs and bacon, that just makes my lil' day. ;)