Six Questions for Doug Macgregor
Answer the following six questions concerning Iraq and the “surge” then head on over to Harpers Magazine to read Colonel Douglas Macgregor’s (US Army, ret.) reply to these questions as posed by Ken Silverstein.
1. How big of a change has there been in recent months in the military situation in Iraq?
2. Has the “surge” in troop levels played an important role here as well?
3. So is the problem in Iraq one of refining counterinsurgency tactics?
4. How will this play out in terms of Iraqi political reconciliation?
5. What’s the likelihood of a future full-out clash between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites?
6. What’s Iraq going to look like five years down the road?
Douglas Macgregor is a retired Army colonel and a decorated Persian Gulf War combat veteran who was an active duty officer (and Pentagon advisor) until 2004. He has authored three books on modern warfare and military reform. His latest is Transformation under Fire: Revolutionizing the Way America Fights. He is also authored Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century.
Macgregor writes for the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C. He recently replied by email to a series of questions about the current situation, and future prospects, in Iraq.
Hat tip to Small Wars Council member LTC Gian Gentile for the pointer.
His [Macgregor] answers are not of the “matrix” and as usual challenge conventional wisdom. Considering the MG Scales Op-Ed on culmination, Macgregor’s answers offer up a different conceptualization of the war in Iraq and the way ahead.
