‘Surge’ Decision Taken After Fierce Debate
The decision of George W. Bush to start a ’surge’ in Iraq in a final attempt to quench extremist violence was reached after a long and passionate internal debate, according to a report in the New York Times.
Many of his advisers told Bush not to order the surge. One of the opponents was the field commander. Another one… Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld, who resigned and was replaced by Robert Gates.
Interestingly enough, it seems that the Secretary of State and the State Department were not as strongly opposed to the surge as the military and defense department. The military and the Defense department in general believed the military was overstretched. A classified Joint Chiefs of Staff paper, for instance, argued for “accelerating Iraqis into ‘operational lead,’” and proposed measures including assigning one U.S. brigade to each Iraqi division to improve Iraqi troops’ performance.
State, on the other hand, believed the U.S. should order a surge only when the violence in Iraq and especially in Baghdad would reach the level of “mass killing.”
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad wrote in a classified cable that “the proposals to send more U.S. forces to Iraq would not produce a long-term solution and would make our policy less, not more, sustainable.”
One of the main reasons it took Bush so long to order the surge was his almost unconditional support for military commanders. He believed they knew what was best. These military advisers often opposed a surge and, instead, advocated handing over control of Iraq to the Iraqi military as soon as possible.
Members of the National Security Staff, however, decided to explore the possibilities of a troop increase and its possible effects. Retired navy Captain William Luti was then asked to find out whether forces were available or not.
In the end a proposal, which was written in consultation with Army staff, was submitted in October 2006. This proposal was titled “Changing the Dynamics: Surge and Fight, Create Breathing Space and Then Accelerate the Transition.” It called for a substantial troop increase, approximately five brigades, to Baghdad and other regions in which the violence had reached unacceptable levels.
As we now know this proposal was, more or less, accepted.
So did Bush think Gates would be a yes man? If that’s so, from everything I’ve read about Gates, he made the wrong choice.
I’ve seen Gates get praise from liberals and conservatives alike.
A highly-placed intelligence analyst who is a friend of mine predicted at the time of Gates’ appointment that he would be a "yes man". I made the opposite prediction, based on my research into recent American civil-military relations.
I recently received his recognition that I was right and he was wrong.
Michael; no. Just someone who agreed with him on the issue of the surge.