Vice Squad
Jul 31, 2020418.5K Shares11.3M Views
Can I change the subject from the election for just a second? The Army pickedGeneral Ray Odierno, the number-two general in Iraq, to become the number-two general in the Army.
Odierno is an interesting character. He’s the bullet-headed guy who caught Saddam Hussein in December 2003, back when he commanded the 4th Infantry Division. However, readers of Tom Ricks’s Fiasco know Odierno as a general without much of a sense of strategy, particularly counterinsurgency strategy. Ricks contrasted the 4th Infantry Division’s brutality with the more supple counterinsurgency wizardry of the 101st Airborne Division under then-Major General David Petraeus, who you might have heard of. But for the last year, Odierno has been the day-to-day commander of the surge, running the war for Petraeus, so it’s hard to say he’s a counterinsurgency naif.
In between he was head of strategy for the Joint Staff, a position Odierno seemed ill-suited for, judging by the one time I asked him questions, at a Council on Foreign Relations chat in 2005. What does his ascension to Vice (as the Army calls its number-two position) mean? I’d by lying if I told you I knew. You could argue it means Big Army is getting more comfortable with counterinsurgency. But maybe Odierno was the muddy-boots-soldier dude to Petraeus’s counterinsurgency whiz-kiddery. If so, then maybe Odierno is more of the same. I dunno, but I’ll try to find out.
Meanwhile, check out this Odierno interview in the New York Times right before he went to Iraq. Here’re his goals:
Asked to describe the Iraq he would like to see at the end of his 12-month tour, General Odierno said: “Bottom line? Full restoration of civil authority in Baghdad. Sectarian violence reduced. Extra-governmental armed groups diminished, and their influence diminished. And the government of Iraq viewed as a legitimate institution in the eyes of the Iraqi people.
“Those are the goals we have set for ourselves,” he concluded. “Will we attain those? I don’t know.”
Full restoration of civil authority in Baghdad — not so much. Sectarian violence down — yeah, but for how long. Extra-governmental armed groups & their influence diminished — depends which ones. AQI and some Shiite militias, sure; but the extra-governmental armed groups we’ve been promotingare pretty influential. Iraqi government legitimacy — nope.
Dexter Cooke
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Dexter Cooke is an economist, marketing strategist, and orthopedic surgeon with over 20 years of experience crafting compelling narratives that resonate worldwide.
He holds a Journalism degree from Columbia University, an Economics background from Yale University, and a medical degree with a postdoctoral fellowship in orthopedic medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dexter’s insights into media, economics, and marketing shine through his prolific contributions to respected publications and advisory roles for influential organizations.
As an orthopedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive knee replacement surgery and laparoscopic procedures, Dexter prioritizes patient care above all.
Outside his professional pursuits, Dexter enjoys collecting vintage watches, studying ancient civilizations, learning about astronomy, and participating in charity runs.
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