You may know him as H.R. McMaster, author of "Dereliction of Duty," the book that exposed deceit and double-crosses between President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Vietnam War.
The author's full title was Army Maj. H.R. McMaster, who wrote the book while acquiring a postgraduate degree in history.
Now a full colonel, Col. McMaster is being used in a new role by Gen. John Abizaid, the chief of U.S. Central Command and the overseer of two critically important military missions: Iraq and Afghanistan.
Col. McMaster is in Baghdad as Gen. Abizaid's director of what is called the "commander's action group." A Pentagon official said part of Col. McMaster's job is to assess war progress and propose long-range solutions for the post-Saddam Hussein era.
The full title of his 1997 book is: "A Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff & the Lies That Led to Vietnam."
Until recently, Col. McMaster, a West Point graduate who has a Ph.D. in American history, was a military fellow at the Hoover Institution. Among his writings was this paragraph:
"President George W. Bush's approach to the current Iraqi problem stands in stark contrast to LBJ's approach to Vietnam. The Bush administration made its case for military action, and, after considerable debate, the American people, through their representatives in Congress, gave approval. The administration also made its case to the United Nations, highlighting the damage that inaction would inflict on prospects for peace in the long term."
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Colonel H.R. McMaster
71st Colonel of the Regiment
3d Armored Cavalry Regiment
Colonel H.R. McMaster was commissioned in the United States Army upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984.
His military education includes the Airborne and Ranger Schools, the Armor Officer Basic and Career Courses, the Cavalry Leader’s Course, the Combined Armed Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College, and a U.S. Army War College fellowship at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. McMaster holds a Ph.D. in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His initial duty assignment was to the Second Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas where he served as a support platoon leader, tank platoon leader, tank company executive officer, and scout platoon leader. In 1989, he was assigned to the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment in Nuremberg, Germany where he served as regimental plans officer. In March 1990, he assumed command of Eagle Troop, Second Squadron which he commanded in Bamberg, Germany and Southwest Asia during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After the squadron returned to Germany, he assumed duties as squadron operations officer. In the summer of 1992, McMaster began graduate study in history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1994 he reported to the history department at the United States Military Academy where he served as an assistant professor until 1996. After graduation from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, he moved to the National Training Center in June of 1997 and joined the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the training center’s opposing force. He served there as executive officer, 1st Squadron, and regimental operations officer. In October 1999, McMaster joined the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in Schweinfurt, Germany and commanded the “Quarterhorse” until June 2002. McMaster joined U.S. Central Command in May 2003, serving as Director, Commander’s Advisory Group until May 2004.
McMaster’s military decorations include the Silver Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
Colonel McMaster is married; he and his wife have three daughters.
This 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is ordered back to war with what commanders call a smarter strategy to not only defeat Iraqi fighters, but also win over what they see as a passive population. The exercise in progress this weekend is part of an Army-wide initiative to replicate tactics observed in Iraq.
"The key is to stay ahead of our enemy," said Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the 5,500-member regiment, slated to deploy in the spring.
"Our soldiers will be absolutely trained for the tough conditions in Iraq," McMaster said.
A decorated troop commander in the Persian Gulf War and former history teacher at the United States Military Academy, Major H.R. McMaster, Ph.D., has written a new book that unearths disturbing new evidence concerning the Vietnam conflict. It deftly proves how America's top leaders in the 1960s and '70s forgot their responsibility to the American public while manipulating the country into a vicious war that it could not win. Major McMaster wrote Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies That Led to Vietnam after reflecting on his service in the Gulf. "As a cavalry troop commander in Operation Desert Storm," he writes, "I was struck by how easily I could connect our unit's actions with the stated war aims of the American government. The contrasts between America's military experience in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf were stark and analogies between the two were evident in public commentary. My experiences in the Gulf and my scholarly interest in recent American history sparked my desire to research and write about Vietnam."
Be nice to have the Russians along for an Iran operation.
Nice to the contrary notwithstanding, Russia is more accurately viewed as an ally of Iran rather than of the U.S.
Bill Gertz, Betrayal: How the Clinton Administration Undermined American Security, Regnery, 1999, Chapter Eight: From Russia with Technology, pp. 167-190, catalogues the continued, covert, lucrative and extensive assistance given Iran by Russia.
Gertz writes: Missile technology transfers from Russia to Iran represent one of the most egregious cases of the failed foreign policies of Bill Clinton.
Bill Gertz, Treachery: How America's Friends and Foes Are Secretly Arming Our Enemies, Crown, 2004, Chapter 5: Iran Goes Nuclear, pp. 90-111, Gertz indicates Russia remains a premier provider of Iran's nuclear, missile and conventional armament needs.
Putin continues to support negotiations, promising any aid to Iran will be predicated on its guarantee it will return spent fuel rods.
So, we have the word of Putin and the word of the three stooges, Khamenei, Khatami and Rafsanjani.
With the leadership of the Bush team and the military expertise of such officers as McMaster, the momentum of the Iraqi election will deliver the full Ceaucescu to Tehran by Christmas.