Whether we should have gone into Iraq in the first place is now only an academic question. Personally, I think we should have gone into Iraq and I recognize that there are those who disagree. But, regardless of our belief - we are there. The relevant question now is, what do we do going forward? Do we continue the mission? Or, do we cut and run? I believe it is imperative that we continue the mission and I am encouraged by the words and analysis of one insider, Lt. Col. Bradley Becker, who believes that we can win in Iraq.
I am honored to have received this message from U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bradley Becker, who recently returned from a year-long tour in Iraq. Lt. Col. Becker commanded a task force in the Tigris River Valley (Mosul). I am informed that this message was written for members of his fraternity, which explains the format. I found the content powerful, and I genuinely wish the mainstream media would latch on to this type of story and report it on the national nightly news. Perhaps then, we could move away from the misinformed leftist diatribes and have a reasonable discussion about executing the mission in Iraq and beyond.
Here is Lt. Col. Becker's commentary...OK Gents,
My two cents worth. First, just because I turned 27 and 41 in Iraq does not mean that my opinion is any more important than anyone else's. I understand that. It only means that I'm old and that I have some fist-hand experience with the Iraqi people, and having just given up command of a Task Force in Iraq it means that I have some recent experience. When I left Iraq 7 weeks ago I left behind literally hundreds of very good Iraqi friends. I still keep in touch with many of those friends and have spent more money on my cell phone bill talking to them than I have on beer. On the whole, I like the Iraqi people I know better than most Americans, they are extremely family oriented and not nearly as spoiled as most Americans.
When I arrived in Iraq in October of 2004 my mission was to Neutralize the enemy and establish security in the Tigris River Valley (TRV) in order to facilitate safe elections and the peaceful transition to Iraqi self governance.
Because this was a counter-insurgency (COIN) fight, not a conventional fight, I realized that I could not focus on the enemy. The enemy IS NOT the center of gravity in a COIN. The people are. Any unit whose measure of effectiveness in Iraq is how many terrorists they captured or killed will never succeed there. Unfortunately, there are commanders who don't understand this. In order to win the COIN fight you have to gain the trust and confidence of the people. Your focus must be on the people. At the same time the terrorists were also focusing their efforts on the people. The terrorists did not need popular support, but they did need that the people DID NOT support the coalition and provide information to us. The terrorists hope to live in a sea of anonymity. Their goal was to build a wall between the coalition and the people. In order to do this the terrorists used a very effective information operations campaign, very much supported by media like Al Jazeera, they used money obtained through extortion and blackmail to buy support, and when the first two failed and the people worked with us or provided information to us then the terrorists would kidnap and behead them (I lost an interpreter early on that way). Therefore my number one effects task was not capture or kill the enemy, it was to influence the local population to support the coalition, the Iraqi Security Forces and the Transitional Iraqi Government.
How did we do this? First, we integrated the Iraqi Army and Police in EVERYTHING we did so that they could eventually do it themselves. We built three Iraqi Army battalions of 3,000 men and recruited more than 3,000 police. We established a police academy, a basic training academy, and an NCO academy to add professionalism to their ranks.
We established TCP's so the roads would be safe. We conducted missions day and night attacking the terrorists so that the people knew we were serious. I established a monthly Regional Security Council meeting with all the leaders in the TRV to discuss security and economic development (our first meeting in November 04 had 12 leaders, by April we had 500). I met with Sheiks and Mukhtars EVERYDAY in their villages and ate at their houses. We built new schools, roads, water and electric projects. We provided a truly secure environment and improved their standard of living. What was the result? The people supported us with information, our soldiers became their friends and the local leaders turned terrorists in to us if they came to their villages (we had 32 terrorists from our black list turned in to us by local leaders). Terrorists could not recruit in our area because they were not welcome there, not because of my soldiers, but because the people didn't want them there. I could go downtown to the Quarya Market Place and go shopping for my kids then sit down and have lunch at a sidewalk cafe. By April, after 5 months of serious fighting with the bad guys, we did not have one single attack in our area for 6 months. Again, it was because the people not my soldiers. The police were securing the streets and the Iraqi Army was patrolling the countryside. The people of Quarya even organized and conducted a March Against Terrorism. Thousands of people turned and marched 2 miles through the market place carrying signs and chanting "No to Terrorists". I was a guest at the March and it was truly amazing. Of course this didn't make the news because no one was killed.
I will admit that our area was not the norm. We had advanced faster than most, but other areas were getting there as well. I lost 34 of my comrades in Iraq, but I will tell you that they did not die in vain. The progress that we made, the hope that we gave the Iraqi people was worth the cost. On one of my last days in Iraq I was in a small village and some of the people were crying. I thought that something must have happened, but they said that they were crying because they did not want our soldiers to leave.
I am currently trying to figure out a way to get back to Iraq. I want to see this through to the end. I want to take my family to Iraq to meet the friends I've made and show them some of the beautiful places like Boechel and Shakelawa.
I have probably gotten too personally involved to be objective about pulling out of Iraq. We are making so much progress everyday that in my opinion it would be a tragedy to pull out now. I think that the strategic endstate is achievable and will be achieved if we stay the course. But I also think it will take a couple more years to get the entire country to where we got in the TRV. But I know it can be done because we did it.
That's all for now. I qualified expert on my M4 and M9 but I type about 10 words a minute.
One last thought. What you see on the news is the sensational stuff that does happen, but thousands of good things are happening in Iraq everyday that never make the news. It's no different than our own local news, "school buss crashes 14 kids die, disturbed student kills 4 other students then principal, man kills family then himself, 6 year old girl abducted, rapist attacks 4th victim". The only reason that we don't panic is because we know what is really going on around us. I will tell you that what was going on around me everyday in Iraq was nothing like what the news depicts. So don't panic.
In Hoc, LTC (P) Brad Becker
6 comments:
This is the kind of story that you would never see printed in the Sacramento Bee
Laurel Zimmer is a hottie.
I know this was written two years ago, but I came across it recently.
It's been... what? Five years since I've spoken with Brad Becker, but he's one of the most impressive individuals I've had the honor of knowing, and I'm glad he wrote this and that it's been published.
Hoo-yah.
Hey Brad,
I just happen to be one of those who disagree with you. We should have never invaded Iraq and I believe we cannot win this one. Remember history is full of countries invading others and never winning. Example, Britton invading American, Germany invading the world, Japan invading america, and you can go on and on. I think the only country who ever succeded in an invasion is China.
This is war we want win, and our economy will suffer for it. We are already in debt to every country out there (how can you say this good). We owe so much money to China, they can come in and take us over financially.
We were supposed to learn form our forfathers, but it seems we haven't. What we did to Iraq, we would have prosecuted anyone else. Case in point, when Russia invaded Afghanistan (because we did not want to see it as a communist country) we helped the same person who bombed our towers). Can we not realize that every one in the world does not want democarcy (and we should not push it on them).
We are constantly telling people what to do and how to live (but as the old saying goes, before you can go off and try to tell someone else what to do, clean up your own house first. And we have a lot of cleaning up to do).
The US have all these WMD's and we cry foul when other countries want them. Why do you think they do? We built all ours because Russia had theirs, don't you realize that's why other countries are building thiers. If we get rid of ours, they just might get rid of thiers. You can't tell someone (of course you can) not to build WMD's when the country who is telling them have masses. Where is the logic in that?
There are so many things I can say, but my time is limited so I will save them for next time.
Curious
Col Becker,
I know that I'm too late in writing this comment ,I just read it yesterday ,so i believed that it is my duty as an Iraqi person who lived,worked and participated Col Becker achievements, to convey my opinion and thoughts to the American people who have doubts about the role of such great men in Iraq .What i wanted to describe here is Col Becker great achievement in Qayyarah area.
I was commanding the Iraqi security force in the base which used to be called FPS ,our responsibility was to secure the base from incoming attacks under the supervision of the US army ,so i had the honor to be one of the first people who met Col Becker when he came to base in 2004.I still remember when he called me for a meeting to discuss with him the means to make this area secure and how to ensure a safer environment for the soldier and all the other inhabiters in the base ,since this was my area of responsibility. What I liked about Col Becker after that meeting,is that ,he is a great listener ,he is the type of person who listen to people opinions and recommendations ,take them into his account and work on them,and that is exactly what he did .He knew that in order to be successful in his mission , is to shorten the distance between him and the Iraqi people,they are the ones who knows the culture ,the people and they are the ones who can assist greatly in the stability of the area. I can tell you now that his achievements are still live and sound until today ,and the relationships that he made with all the local leader and the trip Sheiks and village Mukhtars ,had influenced and in a positive way the stability and security of Tigris river valley .It went under his term ,from a very hostile area to a very safe area and i have witnessed and participated Col Becker's victory ,with so many other brave Iraqi men .
He was capturing terrorist, building powerful Iraqi army ,increasing the sense of security in the heart of the people,and at the same time building the infrastructure of the area,and that is exactly what you really should expect from a great commander.Col Becker knew how to reach the hearts and souls of the Iraqi people , and that is why ,everyone in Tigris river valley still remembers his role and time.However,we should not forget that this could be been done without the dedication of his brave officers and soldiers .
I just wanted to convey my gratitude and greetings to you my friend and brother for what you and your men have done, and i hope that we can meet and work again one day in the future.
Col Hakeem
For the record, Brad is currently deployed in Iraq again and he is returning home in a few weeks. He has been gone for about a year. After he returns he is helping his family move and he is being deployed again for another year. The progress made in Iraq is outstanding.
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