American Security Project Iraq Lessons Learned

American Security Project – Iraq Lessons Learned Essays

Rebalancing Our National Power – Dr. Joseph Collins

… since 2003, while Iraq has been “Job One” for the Bush administration, it took four years to give its commanders the manpower and to develop the operational charter they needed to make meaningful progress. The Bush team has compounded those errors by funding the war through deficit spending.

All of this is spilt milk, some of which has been sopped up by the skill and determination of General David Petraeus, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and their team in Iraq. We should not, however, be complacent. The early phases of the war in Iraq have exposed numerous decision-system or organizational problems that the next President will ignore at his or her peril…

The New Face of War – Dr. Arthur Obermayer

The conflict in Iraq is the new face of war. The last protracted U.S. war where there were clearly demarked battle lines with uniformed soldiers separating the two sides was the Korean War, over a half century ago. Since then, it has been difficult to distinguish friend from foe, and victory has become more elusive. Today, the U.S. has the most sophisticated and strongest military might in the world, but that alone is not enough to prevail. The conflict in Iraq is only the most recent example of this trend, and it provides important lessons for American policy makers and the public to consider…

It Takes a Country to Fight a War – Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.)

In the spring of 2003, our military demonstrated that it is unequaled at traditional warfare. Our forces performed superbly in taking down Saddam Hussein’s government quickly and with relatively few casualties. But the uncoordinated efforts to rebuild Iraq have fallen well short of the mark. This is a monumental task that, regrettably, has principally fallen to the Department of Defense, and the shortcomings of this effort should serve as a lesson that wars of national liberation require strong interagency coordination…

No More Iraqs – Dr. James Miller

Although the final chapter on the Iraq War has not been written, it is already clear that one of the preeminent lessons will echo that of the Vietnam War; that is “No More Iraqs.” This bumper sticker maxim, however, will have widely divergent interpretations. Some will probably be right, several will certainly be wrong, and for some it is simply too soon to tell…

How We Leave Matters – Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, USN (Ret.)

I hate this war and believe we should not have invaded Iraq. But this war, and the way we end it, will have profound implications for America’s future use of force and our exercise of political will in the world. When we leave Iraq, we must do so in a way that protects American military power and manages other’s perceptions of that power in order to avoid unintended — and potentially bloody — consequences in the future.

Instead of seeking to draw lessons from the Iraq experience that we may apply to future conflicts, my goal is to consider how we can apply what we already know to the current situation in Iraq in order to ensure that we draw this conflict to a close in a way that does not further endanger U.S. security…

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