The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Coalitions by James Stavridis, Foreign Policy
During my time leading NATO global operations from 2009 through 2013 as the supreme allied commander, I spent an inordinate amount of time and effort focused on keeping the 50-nation coalition of the International Security Assistance Force on a steady course and speed in Afghanistan. In every sense, the coalition itself represented the strategic center of gravity in the complex struggle for the future of Afghanistan -- and still does.
I believe in coalition warfare, but believe me: I do not wear rose-colored glasses as to the efficacy of such structures. And I yield to no man in my frustration with the care and management of such operations. As Gen. John Allen, one of the very best NATO commanders in history, takes up responsibility for building such a group to face the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, here are some thoughts on the start-up phase…
Comments
Of the five 'Arab' members of the Admins coalition, two should be considered to have a conflict of interest regarding ISIS, and one should be viewed as a 'bad faith' participant. Bahrain and the UAI have been implicated multiple times in the black market oil trade, so while the vast majority of ISIS's oil is transported to Turkey, the deals and logistics that send it there are likely tied back to one of those two Countries (or Qatar). Qatar has been an active supporter of ISIS, period.
Centcom should not be surprised in a couple of weeks to hear from the SIGINT reports that INFOSEC was compromised, and that the air strikes effectiveness was marginalized due to advance warning from one of the three coalition members noted above. The first two, in order to protect undeclared conflicts of interest (i.e. their investments/percentage in ISIS's oil business), the latter for ideological reasons. Especially in terms of the strikes against the AQ faction entering an operation phase, those outside the fairy tale land sphere of puppies and kittens and rhetoric held as gospel at the WH… lives in the U.S. and Europe are at risk: Do not give to HOPE that the strikes were successful and that the threat has lessened, no matter how optimistic the "field intelligence" reports are from what is supposed to be an Intelligence Black Hole. If those jerks manage to execute their operations due to lack of diligence from the U.S. IC or etc., the heads of the various IC agencies are going to have to explain their actions in front of P-ed off Congressional Oversight Committees.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
Sincerely,
A. Scott Crawford