NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence: Iraq

Iraq - How to Exit Iraq

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:15:27 GMT

New York Times - John Nagl on what our exit strategy should be from Iraq.

Iraq - The General's Dilemma

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:06:14 GMT

New Yorker - David Petraeus, the pressures of politics, and the road out of Iraq.

Iraq - The Last Battle

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:30:12 GMT

New York Times Magazine - Michael Gordon writes that the fight between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Iraq seems to be quieting down. But the Shiites still have one fight left -- among themselves.

Iraq - Surge Protector

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:23:25 GMT

New York Times - Admiral Fallon shows the way forward in Iraq.

Iraq - Army study: Iraq occupation was understaffed

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:25:28 GMT

Associated Press - A nearly 700-page study released Sunday by the Army found that "in the euphoria of early 2003," U.S.-based commanders prematurely believed their goals in Iraq had been reached and did not send enough troops to handle the occupation.

Iraq - The Price of the Surge

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:47:37 GMT

Foreign Affairs - The Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq has helped reduce violence. But the surge is not linked to any sustainable plan for building a viable Iraqi state and may even have made such an outcome less likely -- by stoking the revanchist fantasies of Sunni tribes and pitting them against the central government. The recent short-term gains have thus come at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq.

Iraq - The Surge and Beyond

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:37:02 GMT

Harvard Political Review - Former CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni discusses the future of Iraq and more.

Iraq - Fateful Choice on Iraq Army Bypassed Debate

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:15:38 GMT

New York Times - Michael Gordon writes that the decision by L. Paul Bremer III to dissolve Iraq’s Army was a reversal from a plan the White House had approved.

Iraq - We Can't Win These Wars on Our Own

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:49:20 GMT

Washington Post - LTC John Nagl reviews our current position in Iraq and describes the way forward...

Iraq - Zinni Critiques War on Terror, Iraq Strategy

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:51:46 GMT

Harvard Independent - General Zinni on The Long War: "I give us an A+ on tactics, I give us a C maybe operationally dealing with it, and I would give us an F strategically in how we deal with al-Qaida and think about terrorism."

Iraq - Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:02:21 GMT

New York Times - The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret.

Iraq - U.S. Commanders in Iraq Favor Pause in Troop Cuts

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:12:00 GMT

Washington Post - Tom Ricks writes that senior U.S. military commanders in Iraq say they want to freeze troop reductions starting this summer for at least a month, making it more likely that the next administration will inherit as many troops in Iraq as there were before President Bush announced a "surge" of forces a year ago.

Iraq - War, Meet the 2008 Campaign

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:16:50 GMT

New York Times - Michael Gordon writes that for the past year, he has led a double existence, dividing his time between military reporting assignments in Iraq and tracking the campaign debate in the United States...Those were parallel universes, in which the discussion of the taxing road ahead and potential fall-back options were often so divergent that the generals and the politicians seemed not to be talking about the same war.

Iraq - Pushed Out of Baghdad, Insurgents Move North

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:44:11 GMT

New York Times - Michael Gordon writes that a growing number of Sunni insurgents have relocated to Mosul and other places in northern Iraq.

Iraq - Ex-Pentagon Aide Says U.S. Abandoned Quick Iraq Transition

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:57:40 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that former top Pentagon official Douglas Feith blamed the Bush administration's top official in Iraq for abandoning a plan for a quick transition to Iraqi leadership in the summer of 2003 and instead keeping the U.S. government in control of the country for more than a year.

Iraq - Inside the Surge

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:19:16 GMT

New Yorker - Jon Lee Anderson writes that the American military finds new allies, but at what cost?

Iraq - Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:26:23 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that senior military commanders in Iraq now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias.

Iraq - Colonel H.R. McMaster

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:28:57 GMT

Mother Jones - Colonel H.R. McMaster on the current state of affairs in Iraq.

Iraq - General Anthony Zinni

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:23:30 GMT

Mother Jones - An interview with General Zinni on the current state of affairs in Iraq.

Iraq - Lt. Colonel John Nagl

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:21:04 GMT

Mother Jones - An interview with Lt. Col. John Nagl on Iraq.

Iraq - Modern Heroes

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 10:52:16 GMT

Wall Street Journal - Robert Kaplan writes that "Our soldiers like what they do. They want our respect, not pity. "

Iraq - Part 4: 'If you don't go after the network, you're never going to stop these guys. Never.'

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:36:09 GMT

Washington Post - Final part of Rick Atkinson's excellent series. The US military is making progress by disrupting supply chains, but bombers are adapting.

Iraq - Part 3: 'You can't armor your way out of this problem'

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:43:28 GMT

Washington Post - Part 3 of Rick Atkinson's series. Between the spring of 2005 and summer of 2006, the number of IED attacks doubles; promising technologies to combat attacks fizzle.

See also: Washington Post - When 'Physics Gets in the Way'.

Iraq - Part 2: 'There was a two-year learning curve . . . and a lot of people died in those two years'

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:14:02 GMT

Washington Post - Part 2 of Rick Atkinson's superb series on IED's. Frustration mounts in 2004 and 2005 as various efforts fail to stop roadside bombs. And a new menace appears on the battlefield: the EFP, or explosively formed penetrator.

Iraq - Introduction: 'The single most effective weapon against our deployed forces'

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:50:23 GMT

Washington Post - A series by Rick Atkinson explores how the roadside bomb, or IED, is a proximate cause and metaphor for the miscalculation, improvisation that have characterized the war in Iraq.

Iraq - Planning for Defeat

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:01:34 GMT

New Yorker - George Packer asks how should we withdraw from Iraq?

Iraq- Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:55:11 GMT

Small Wars Journal - David Kilcullen who has just completed a tour in Iraq as senior counterinsurgency adviser to the Multi-National Force summarizes the current state of affairs in Iraq.

Iraq - The Former-Insurgent Counterinsurgency

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:40:08 GMT

New York Times Magazine - In a Sunni stronghold just south of Baghdad, the U.S. military has been persuading militants to switch sides. But it’s not at all clear that the enemy’s new enemy is really a friend...A superb article by Michael Gordon showing the current state of affairs in Iraq.

Iraq - As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 08:58:24 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks describes the situation facing the British in the south of Iraq.

Iraq - Leaving now not the way out of Iraq

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:59:15 GMT

The Times - One of the key strategists behind America’s last-ditch 'surge' in Iraq, Colonel HR McMaster explains his thinking to Marie Colvin, our award-winning correspondent, who has spent decades covering the Middle East and has witnessed the bloody reality of life in Baghdad. McMaster insists that ‘sustained stability’ is possible – eventually. But was the surge the right policy too late?

Iraq - Exit Strategies

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:28:41 GMT

Washington Post - The Pentagon is wargaming possible US exit strategies from Iraq.

Iraq - Bush Leans On Petraeus as War Dissent Deepens

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:24:40 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks asks if General Petraeus is being set up by the Bush administration as a scapegoat if conditions in Iraq fail to improve.

Iraq - My history lesson in the Oval Office

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:23:52 GMT

Daily Telegraph - Sir Alastair Horne insightfully compares the war in Iraq to the war in Algeria.

Iraq - Critiques of Iraq War Reveal Rifts Among Army Officers

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:30:28 GMT

Wall Street Journal - Superb essay by Greg Jaffe on the current state of the US Army's junior officer corps in light of their experiences in Iraq.

Iraq - The General's Report

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:05:24 GMT

New Yorker - How General Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties.

Most interesting is this ending quote from General Taguba: "From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service. And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will be mad at me for speaking out, but the fact is that we violated the laws of land warfare in Abu Ghraib. We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values. The stress of combat is not an excuse, and I believe, even today, that those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable."

Iraq - Iraq Push Revives Criticism of Force Size

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:40:33 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that the major U.S. offensive launched last weekend against insurgents in and around Baghdad has significantly expanded the military's battleground in Iraq -- "a surge of operations," and no longer just of troops, as the second-ranking U.S. commander there said yesterday -- but it has renewed concerns about whether even the bigger U.S. troop presence there is large enough.

Iraq - Endgame

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:31:14 GMT

PBS Frontline - What went wrong, and why, in America's tragically failed effort to find a strategy for success in Iraq.

Read the transcript and the excellent set of insightful interviews.

Iraq - Military Envisions Longer Stay in Iraq

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:16:22 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that U.S. military officials are increasingly envisioning a "post-occupation" troop presence in Iraq that neither maintains current levels nor leads to a complete pullout, but aims for a smaller, longer-term force that would remain in the country for years.

Iraq - Joint Chiefs Chair Will Bow Out

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:26:48 GMT

Washington Post - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced yesterday that Marine Gen. Peter Pace will step down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September, a move that Gates said will avert the contentious congressional hearings that would be needed to reconfirm the nation's top military officer. Pace will leave after just two years in the post, the shortest stint as chairman in more than four decades. The surprise announcement yesterday at the Pentagon amounts to Pace being fired before a customary second two-year term.

Iraq - Iraqi tribes shift from hurdle to help

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 30 May 2007 10:40:56 GMT

Navy Times - Sean Naylor reports that tribes that once resisted the coalition are now volunteering to become police...a potentially extremely positive development...a very interesting analysis of the current situation on ground in Iraq.

Iraq - The Flight From Iraq

Michael D'Alessandro — Tue, 15 May 2007 10:18:31 GMT

New York Times Magazine - War has displaced millions in Iraq, creating the largest refugee problem in the Middle East since 1948. As they flee their country, are they taking the war with them?

Iraq - Gen. Petraeus Warns Against Using Torture

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 11 May 2007 11:29:07 GMT

Washington Post - The top U.S. commander in Iraq admonished his troops regarding the results of an Army survey that found that many U.S military personnel there are willing to tolerate some torture of suspects and unwilling to report abuse by comrades.

Iraq - Troops at Odds With Ethics Standards

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 06 May 2007 08:37:51 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that more than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.

Iraq - Good News in Al Anbar

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 02 May 2007 09:34:37 GMT

Marine Corps Gazette - The author reports on the progress Marines are making in the troubled Al Anbar Province in Iraq. Despite the violence, progress is being made in training Iraqis and restoring security. Unfortunately, these events are underreported by the mainstream media. (PDF format)

Iraq - War Called Riskier Than Vietnam

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:01:04 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that as fighting in Iraq enters its fifth year, an increasing number of experts in foreign policy and national strategy are arguing that the biggest difference between the Vietnam and Iraq wars may be that the Iraq war will inflict greater damage to U.S. interests than Vietnam did.

Iraq - Army Officer Accuses Generals of 'Intellectual and Moral Failures'

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:21:31 GMT

Washington Post - An active-duty Army officer is publishing a blistering attack on U.S. generals, saying they have botched the war in Iraq and misled Congress about the situation there.

"America's generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq," charges Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran who is deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. "The intellectual and moral failures . . . constitute a crisis in American generals."

Read the article: Armed Forces Journal - A failure in generalship.

Iraq - Meet the Press Transcript for April 15, 2007

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:55:21 GMT

Meet the Press - General Zinni comments on the current situation in Iraq and the Central Command area of responsibility.

Iraq - 3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'

Michael D'Alessandro — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:06:46 GMT

Washington Post - The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job.

Iraq - Politics Collide With Iraq Realities

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:26:06 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks writes that there are two Iraq wars being waged, according to military officers on the ground and defense experts: the one fought in the streets of Baghdad, and the war as it is perceived in Washington.

Iraq - U.S. Military 'In Peril': McCaffrey

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:16:22 GMT

Defense News - Sean Naylor analyzes retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey's recent report on Iraq.