Gen. Petraeus Speaks
By Erick Posted in Gen. Petraeus | War — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
General Petraeus sent out a letter to all the troops under his command. It is very much well worth your time to read it, which you can do so here.
In part, Gen. Petraeus writes:
I also want you to be aware of my recognition that our focus on securing the population means that many of you will live in the neighborhoods you're securing. That is, in fact, the right way to secure the population - and it means that you will, in some cases, operate in more austere conditions that you did before we adjusted our mission and focus. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to support you as we implement the new plans. This approach is necessary, because we can't commute to the fight in counterinsurgency operations; rather, we have to live with the population we are securing.
[Emphasis added] Please do read the whole letter here.
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I know most here will disagree when I say the decision by Bush to keep Rumsfeld on after 2004 was a big mistake but I strongly believe we would be in a much better place had a Gates taken charge of DOD then and a Petraeus of the in theater operation.
There was a fairly softball video interiew of Gates put up on the Pentagon web site a few days ago - the questions are pertinent for the most part though of course there are no difficult followups. Even so it is worth the watch if for no other reason than to gauge what the man is about. I think its clear there will be a lot more attention paid to the views of those on the ground and less to political appointees. Video is here
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"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I would think that General P is on the right track with stationing his troops to live with those that they are providing security. It would seem that it would help build common cause and community while reducing the "while they live in the ivory tower" sentiment.
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