Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
NPR
April 7, 2008 By Farai Chideya
News And Notes (NPR), 1:00 PM
FARAI CHIDEYA: I'm Farai Chideya, and this is News & Notes. Last month, the war in Iraq passed its fifth anniversary. More than 4,000 U.S. troops have been killed and nearly 30,000 wounded. By the end of the year, it's estimated the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will exceed 800 billion dollars. President Bush recently gave a progress report on the war in Iraq.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: The surge is doing what it was designed to do. It's helping Iraqis reclaim security and restart political and economic life. It is bringing America closer to a key strategic victory in the war against these extremists and radicals.
CHIDEYA: One man who knows first hand about the surge is Marine Major General Walter Gaskin, one of the highest ranking African-Americans in the U.S. military. In February, he returned from serving a year in Iraq. He headed the 25,000 member multinational forces West. That force patrols the Sunni-dominated al-Anbar province. I asked General Gaskin how the surge affected his job in Iraq.
MAJ. GEN. WALTER GASKIN, COMMANDING GENERAL, SECOND MARINE DIVISION:The surge was tremendous. As you know, we got approximately about 4,000 in additional forces to Anbar. But let me tell you what it gave us the ability to do. One, to partner with - down at the, as low as the battalion and company level - with Iraqi security forces. To partner with Iraqi police, and the ability to secure the population centers. So we've basically defeated al-Qaeda and pushed them out of Anbar because we had additional forces.
CHIDEYA: Now, when we spoke with you last September, General David Petraeus had just recommended a withdrawal of at least 21,000 surge troops, and then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went further, saying that the troop levels could be cut more, to 100,000 by this year. What's the latest on the idea of the surge ending and there being a further drawdown of troops?
GASKIN: I think you recently heard that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will talk in the near future about whether or not the forces should be withdrawn below the surge numbers. I believe that the surge forces were good, I believe that they gave us the chance to increase the capacity of the Iraqi security forces.So the association, mentoring and training that's critical to increasing capacity and self-reliance, and the ability for the Iraqis to eventually take the lead.
CHIDEYA: Looking ahead, when do you predict that the lead responsibility for security will be transferred to the Iraqis? And will that go in phases?
GASKIN: I think you'll see that in every portions of the 18 provinces in Iraq there will be only timelines toward, eventually, Iraqi control. And that is predicated upon the evolution there (unintelligible). In some cases, involvement of the governance within that province. So I think if you would examine every one of those provinces on a time scale, based on that development, and as in Anbar, we have seen remarkable progress and improvement and capacity on all fronts. Whether that be at the local governance level, whether that be in the travel engagement, or whether or not we're talking about the Iraqi security forces. And that thing is that you cannot separate it into a sort of a sequential thing. These things all happen simultaneously, that results in a stability and economic development that is running under the rule of law, and connected with the reconciliation that has to occur in the national level. And I think that it's - that they are making progress along that line.
CHIDEYA: In this environment of examination, of strategy, how is the overall recruiting going?
GASKIN: Our recruiting is going extremely well. As you know, this is an all-volunteer service, and that this generation, the linear generation, is an outstanding group of young men and women who feel that they like to do things more than for themselves, and they like to participate in the freedom of not only America, but those who want the opportunities that they love and cherish around the world. So these young men and women come in to the Marine Corps expecting to deploy, expecting to be the nation's 911, and expecting to follow the principles and ideals of our nation. So I have seen that the morale is good. I have seen that these young men and women have a very clear understanding of what we are trying to do in Iraq and I think that they support that by their volunteering to be a part of the Marine Corps.
CHIDEYA: Are you worried that this sustained engagement would actually, you know, erode not only, you know, the - I guess, possibly the spirit of your Marines, but also just of the families that support them?
GASKIN: Well, you know, the thing is that what we should do as a nation is begin by thanking the young men and women for their sacrifice for the cause. It is no doubt that when we go off to operations such as in Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere around the world, it requires sacrifice of and separation from our families.
I think that's uniqueness of a generation. And although we do everything we can to make sure that we minimize any of the problems associated with deployment, the reality of it is that in order to go off and do the things that our nation needed to do, it required us to be separated from our families. And so our acceptance of the sacrifice should always be at the forefront, and at the same time, we can not forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by giving their lives.
CHIDEYA: General Gaskin, thank you very much.
GASKIN: Oh, you're very welcome.
CHIDEYA: Marine Major General Walter Gaskin. He's currently Commanding General of the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
April 7, 2008 By Farai Chideya
News And Notes (NPR), 1:00 PM
FARAI CHIDEYA: I'm Farai Chideya, and this is News & Notes. Last month, the war in Iraq passed its fifth anniversary. More than 4,000 U.S. troops have been killed and nearly 30,000 wounded. By the end of the year, it's estimated the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will exceed 800 billion dollars. President Bush recently gave a progress report on the war in Iraq.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: The surge is doing what it was designed to do. It's helping Iraqis reclaim security and restart political and economic life. It is bringing America closer to a key strategic victory in the war against these extremists and radicals.
CHIDEYA: One man who knows first hand about the surge is Marine Major General Walter Gaskin, one of the highest ranking African-Americans in the U.S. military. In February, he returned from serving a year in Iraq. He headed the 25,000 member multinational forces West. That force patrols the Sunni-dominated al-Anbar province. I asked General Gaskin how the surge affected his job in Iraq.
MAJ. GEN. WALTER GASKIN, COMMANDING GENERAL, SECOND MARINE DIVISION:The surge was tremendous. As you know, we got approximately about 4,000 in additional forces to Anbar. But let me tell you what it gave us the ability to do. One, to partner with - down at the, as low as the battalion and company level - with Iraqi security forces. To partner with Iraqi police, and the ability to secure the population centers. So we've basically defeated al-Qaeda and pushed them out of Anbar because we had additional forces.
CHIDEYA: Now, when we spoke with you last September, General David Petraeus had just recommended a withdrawal of at least 21,000 surge troops, and then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went further, saying that the troop levels could be cut more, to 100,000 by this year. What's the latest on the idea of the surge ending and there being a further drawdown of troops?
GASKIN: I think you recently heard that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will talk in the near future about whether or not the forces should be withdrawn below the surge numbers. I believe that the surge forces were good, I believe that they gave us the chance to increase the capacity of the Iraqi security forces.So the association, mentoring and training that's critical to increasing capacity and self-reliance, and the ability for the Iraqis to eventually take the lead.
CHIDEYA: Looking ahead, when do you predict that the lead responsibility for security will be transferred to the Iraqis? And will that go in phases?
GASKIN: I think you'll see that in every portions of the 18 provinces in Iraq there will be only timelines toward, eventually, Iraqi control. And that is predicated upon the evolution there (unintelligible). In some cases, involvement of the governance within that province. So I think if you would examine every one of those provinces on a time scale, based on that development, and as in Anbar, we have seen remarkable progress and improvement and capacity on all fronts. Whether that be at the local governance level, whether that be in the travel engagement, or whether or not we're talking about the Iraqi security forces. And that thing is that you cannot separate it into a sort of a sequential thing. These things all happen simultaneously, that results in a stability and economic development that is running under the rule of law, and connected with the reconciliation that has to occur in the national level. And I think that it's - that they are making progress along that line.
CHIDEYA: In this environment of examination, of strategy, how is the overall recruiting going?
GASKIN: Our recruiting is going extremely well. As you know, this is an all-volunteer service, and that this generation, the linear generation, is an outstanding group of young men and women who feel that they like to do things more than for themselves, and they like to participate in the freedom of not only America, but those who want the opportunities that they love and cherish around the world. So these young men and women come in to the Marine Corps expecting to deploy, expecting to be the nation's 911, and expecting to follow the principles and ideals of our nation. So I have seen that the morale is good. I have seen that these young men and women have a very clear understanding of what we are trying to do in Iraq and I think that they support that by their volunteering to be a part of the Marine Corps.
CHIDEYA: Are you worried that this sustained engagement would actually, you know, erode not only, you know, the - I guess, possibly the spirit of your Marines, but also just of the families that support them?
GASKIN: Well, you know, the thing is that what we should do as a nation is begin by thanking the young men and women for their sacrifice for the cause. It is no doubt that when we go off to operations such as in Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere around the world, it requires sacrifice of and separation from our families.
I think that's uniqueness of a generation. And although we do everything we can to make sure that we minimize any of the problems associated with deployment, the reality of it is that in order to go off and do the things that our nation needed to do, it required us to be separated from our families. And so our acceptance of the sacrifice should always be at the forefront, and at the same time, we can not forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by giving their lives.
CHIDEYA: General Gaskin, thank you very much.
GASKIN: Oh, you're very welcome.
CHIDEYA: Marine Major General Walter Gaskin. He's currently Commanding General of the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.