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Chinks in the armour in Iraq

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: Exposing deep divisions within the United States military top brass, a serving mid-ranking officer has roundly criticised the quality of American generalship in Iraq.

Writing in a widely circulated in-house military journal, Lt. Col. Paul Yingling accused the U.S. higher military command of unrealistic planning, inadequate foresight and poor adaptability to the ground realities in Iraq.

"For reasons that are not yet clear, America's general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq's Government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq." Anticipating a high-technology conventional war, the Americans went into Iraq with far lesser number of troops than were required. The top brass also did not have a realistic plan for stabilising Iraq after toppling the leadership there. Besides, the generals kept the American public in the dark about the intensity of post-war combat in Iraq. "The intellectual and moral failures common to America's general officer corps in Vietnam and Iraq constitute a crisis in American generalship," he said.

Analysts point out that the publication of the article by a serving officer meant that the fault lines within the military over the handling of Iraq had begun to show in public. Lt. Col. Yingling said the Americans now faced prospects of a military defeat in Iraq.

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