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Ollie North on Iraq

Cal

Well-known member
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15925

Debriefing Ollie North

by Bill Steigerwald
Posted Jul 06, 2006

Oliver North spends so much time on patrol with or interviewing the troops in Iraq, you'd think he is still an active colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps.

North, who has been to Iraq seven times and Afghanistan once and fought in Vietnam, is a conservative commentator for Fox News, where he hosts "War Stories" at 8 p.m. Sunday nights. July 9th's episode on the role of baseball in wartime, "From the Ballpark to the Battlefield: Baseball and WWII," will air the night before the All-Star game. I talked to North on Tuesday, June 27, by telephone:


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What is your assessment of the condition of the U.S. military today?

There has never been a brighter, better-educated, better-equipped, led or more combat-experienced military than the one we have today. And I can say that having spent 25 years in uniform. A lot of it has to do with the fact that it is all volunteer.

Is our military as modern, as smart, as it needs to be for the 21st century?

You always want guys with more education. But no nation ever has ever had a military as bright. When you add to that the combat experience of this military, it is an enormous war-fighting capability that no nation has ever had. And with the technology of the weapons and the equipment that they use and maintain, it gives you an extraordinary advantage on the battlefield.

How are the troops in Iraq holding up morale-wise -- in spite of what you've called “the steady drumbeat of dismal defeatism”?

(Laughing.) Nothing like a little alliteration for us newspaper guys, right? Look, while they are over there they are blissfully unaware of most of the negativism. It's the guys who come back home and then go back out. They are being affected by it. The frustration they feel is that the folks at home don’t understand how successful they’ve been. And maybe the best barometer of troop morale -- and I think it’s been this way since 1777-78 -- has been, always, the re-enlistment rate. The re-enlistment rate -- not the new enlistment rate -- has never been higher.

It seems that it’s pretty obvious U.S. troops in Iraq are going to be drawn down for political reasons in time for November's elections and again in 2008. Will this hurt the situation in Iraq?

They’re already being drawn down. There are units that were out there in December that have come home that are not being replaced. So the drawdown has already begun. They’re not going to make a big announcement about it to give encouragement to the bad guys or to discourage an Iraqi government that desperately wants us to stay as long as we can.
I differ with you, Bill. I don’t think it’s just because of the November elections. These decisions were being made back last September, October, November. My sense is that they have watched the overall success from an entirely different perspective than we’re getting on television from the balcony shots at the Baghdad (Hotel) and they’re getting that from the guys in the field.

I watched the Iraqi armor unit roll into Ramadi and was stunned at the reaction of the Iraqi people. This is a town that has been the centerpiece of the so-called Sunni insurrection. It’s right in the heart of the Sunni Triangle. I watched the people react incredibly warmly. They were impressed by their own army’s strength and resolve. I’ve been on patrol with them out there.

Are these the things that give you confidence the Iraqis will be able to hold it together when we leave or draw down significantly?

Yes. And it’s because they have overcome the two great obstacles we put in their path. Both were made at the same time, in May of 2003, and I was there when it was happening.
Obstacle No. 1 was the decision not to call the Iraqi army back to their barracks. (Former Coalition Provisional Authority head) Paul Bremer called me up -- we’ve known each other for a long time -- and I said to him that we’ve forgotten the lessons of history. Everybody thinks that the Marshall Plan won World War II in Europe. The first Marshall Plan dollar didn’t hit Europe until 1948. Between May of 1945, at the end of World War II in Europe, and 1948, Germany was rebuilt by the Wehrmacht, with American officers and supervisors. Italy was rebuilt by the Italian army, and Japan was rebuilt by the Japanese army.

And No. 2, we turned away the exiles in Iraq. And guess what? Look at the people who are in positions of ministerial power in Iraq today in the new government -- democratically elected. They are all exiles. They were put there by the Iraqis. So the Iraqis have overcome two major obstacles we threw in their path -- not by the U.S. military but by the political leadership at the State Department and the White House.

Has the Bush administration asked the volunteer army to do a job or mission it is not designed to do -- basically rebuilding a country and trying to plant a Western-style democracy in a place that probably isn’t suited for that?

Or, as someone put it to me, “Have they been asked to do mission impossible?" No. Because this is a military that is capable of winning this kind of war. It’s not the war they were designed to fight but they have fought it extremely well. The difficulty in this war is the inevitable frustration Americans always have -- which is let’s get the doggone thing over with. ...

If you look at the capabilities of the armed forces of the United States, the part that has been missing is the political dimension -- support for the troops. When was the last time you, in a local newspaper, had given to you the press release on the local citations for the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross or the Navy Cross?

It doesn’t happen any more.

Bingo. Well, why the hell doesn’t it, if I can put it baldly on a Fourth of July weekend. Why the devil doesn’t it? Why should the American people be reminded, regularly, about Haditha, instead of being reminded that we have real, live, walking, talking war heroes living among us?
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
Econ101 said:
If only we could get the same caliber in our politicians.

Im a big fan of North. Except for one thing. As an officer in the US Army he had a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. I know Iran/Contra was out of patriatism. But he broke his oath.
I know his heart was in the right place. But do the ends justify the means? We all make mistakes.
He was fighting the cold war. But then again if I could take out AlQaeda by breaking my oath I would probable do it.
Guess im just thinking out loud here.
Dont know what to think?
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
I always like Oliver North! He's got guts!

LOLs I think your confussed. You dont sound like a liberal. A Conservative that just doesnt like Jr? Maybe a libertarian? But I think liberals would not accept you in their camp :wink:
 

Econ101

Well-known member
RoperAB said:
Econ101 said:
If only we could get the same caliber in our politicians.

Im a big fan of North. Except for one thing. As an officer in the US Army he had a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. I know Iran/Contra was out of patriatism. But he broke his oath.
I know his heart was in the right place. But do the ends justify the means? We all make mistakes.
He was fighting the cold war. But then again if I could take out AlQaeda by breaking my oath I would probable do it.
Guess im just thinking out loud here.
Dont know what to think?

Although the oath is to the constitution, the chain of command is to the leader of the chain. It is a sorry predicament we put our soldiers in.

In the case of Abu Graib and the rendering of terrorist hostages to countries that permit torture, the "Decider" and his administration seems to have approved the methods and yet the man on the ground is punished.

I think this was a disservice to our servicemen by our politicians than the servicemen to the constitution.

That is not how it seemed to shake out.

For this reason I say that GW has little in common with Reagan. Reagan would not have sold out the man on the ground for his own faults. I believe Reagan would have the loyalty to the serviceman that Bush expects from people in his administration.

One is for self interest the other is for a personal conviction of character.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
If the men on the front lose faith in The Commander In Chief everything will fall a part.
Whats the big deal about Abu Graib? The woman looked kind of cute. Cant remember her name but if she wanted to dominate me I might learn to like it :wink:
:lol: I declare war on America!
Now I surrender!
You better send her up here to spank whatever info I might have out of me.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
I was never one to be in a ' camp'.

I've got my own mind and have always used it....not one to pack dog up with a ' camp'!!

If Bush had guts like North...I might like him. But since that ain't gonna happen............. :???: :???: :???:
 

passin thru

Well-known member
kola............the other day I was agreeing with you on something. It made me wonder if I was going liberal...............now I see you are moving right. Now I can sleep at night :wink: :wink:
 

passin thru

Well-known member
Kola.........
If Bush had guts like North...I might like him

I can see where you are coming from.............what I se with Bush, first he's a conservative that is trying so hard to please the left that he po's both the left and right. What was that old Ricky Nelson song..........Garden Party............you can't please everyone so you got to please yourself.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Even though I personally don't like the man....be he Prez or not, I think he's surrounded with WAY too many Yes Men.... he's not getting useful advice, aka THE TRUTH. I think, for what that's worth, he's getting told what THEY think he wants to hear.

Ivy League educated not withstanding......I've met the man and had biz dealings yrs ago.....he's NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer!! He is one of those types that can't think on his own....he needs advisors.

There are a lot of folks like that...and that's not all bad....BUT have good advisors who will tell you like it IS....not what you WANT it to BE!!!
 

Econ101

Well-known member
RoperAB said:
If the men on the front lose faith in The Commander In Chief everything will fall a part.
Whats the big deal about Abu Graib? The woman looked kind of cute. Cant remember her name but if she wanted to dominate me I might learn to like it :wink:
:lol: I declare war on America!
Now I surrender!
You better send her up here to spank whatever info I might have out of me.

Hopefully we have a country that is bigger than the current president. Whether you like him or not, if you are in the military, you must do as told.

As I said before, the man on the line should not pay for Bush's bad policy decisions. Bush should be a man and pay for his own mistakes.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Ahhhh Econ...in a perfect world that would be soooo true!!


But we all know what you suggested, as correct as it is, will NEVER happen to this prez! This boy seems bullet-proof!
 

Econ101

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
Ahhhh Econ...in a perfect world that would be soooo true!!


But we all know what you suggested, as correct as it is, will NEVER happen to this prez! This boy seems bullet-proof!

And that truth once again shows the fallibility of man.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
Well how can Jr be sheltered? If he surfed the web, picked up a newspaper or turned on the TV he would get bombarded with criticism.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
RoperAB said:
Well how can Jr be sheltered? If he surfed the web, picked up a newspaper or turned on the TV he would get bombarded with criticism.

Isn't this the same for any leader who was beginning to become unpopular with time left in office?

GW will get the legacy he deserves. Unfortunately I don't think he is bright enough to really know what is going on. He has too many yes men around him sheltering him. His father had the same critism after going shopping.
 

RoperAB

Well-known member
Econ101 said:
RoperAB said:
Well how can Jr be sheltered? If he surfed the web, picked up a newspaper or turned on the TV he would get bombarded with criticism.

Isn't this the same for any leader who was beginning to become unpopular with time left in office?

GW will get the legacy he deserves. Unfortunately I don't think he is bright enough to really know what is going on. He has too many yes men around him sheltering him. His father had the same critism after going shopping.

Well if he ever looks out of a window in the White House he will will see somebody protesting something they dont like about him.
:wink:
 
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