Posted on 01/12/2006 6:07:38 AM PST by Waverunner
US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer Richard Norton-Taylor and Jamie Wilson in Washington Thursday January 12, 2006 The Guardian A senior British officer has criticised the US army for its conduct in Iraq, accusing it of institutional racism, moral righteousness, misplaced optimism, and of being ill-suited to engage in counter-insurgency operations. The blistering critique, by Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was the second most senior officer responsible for training Iraqi security forces, reflects criticism and frustration voiced by British commanders of American military tactics. What is startling is the severity of his comments - and the decision by Military Review, a US army magazine, to publish them. American soldiers, says Brig Aylwin-Foster, were "almost unfailingly courteous and considerate". But he says "at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism". The US army, he says, is imbued with an unparalleled sense of patriotism, duty, passion and talent. "Yet it seemed weighed down by bureaucracy, a stiflingly hierarchical outlook, a predisposition to offensive operations and a sense that duty required all issues to be confronted head-on." Brig Aylwin-Foster says the American army's laudable "can-do" approach paradoxically led to another trait, namely "damaging optimism". Such an ethos, he says, "is unhelpful if it discourages junior commanders from reporting unwelcome news up the chain of command". But his central theme is that US military commanders have failed to train and educate their soldiers in the art of counter-insurgency operations and the need to cultivate the "hearts and minds" of the local population. While US officers in Iraq criticised their allies for being too reluctant to use force, their strategy was "to kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents: they saw military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal in its own right".
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
While US officers in Iraq criticised their allies for being too reluctant to use force, their strategy was "to kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents: they saw military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal in its own right
Also they seem to have forgotten the goal !
There are other threads about this article.
(their strategy was "to kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents: they saw military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal in its own right".)
Sounds good to me. What would be his strategy?
Ho, hum. The modern day Brits are good at flapping their lips. Not so good at winning wars.
Yep, self-important pretentious peacock this guy is...but...some things he point out are only bad in his mind, and his thinking is why the UK will never be able to wage a war without our help.
He, obviously, doesnt speak for all the British Generals...and he is a "one star", something tells me...that's about as far as he's going to go.
I think he's talking about our cultural insensitivity to the Iraqis. I think he would prefer it if we played nice with the terrorists instead of eliminating them.
Sorry - My first post -
Forgot to do my research
Not only that, American soldiers tackle problems "head-on"!
The horror! The horror!
And he says Americans lack cultural sensitivity bordering on ... eek! ... instutional racism?! Maybe it's the lack of cultural sensitivity that has kept us from being overrun by the Muslims and socialists as England has been.
True - but when you use the term racism, the MSM applies another connotation to it immediately.
Eactly!
How is the American strategy bad again?
Maybe appeasement, handing the gift backs and UK welfare cards, would work to lessen the terroris threat in his mind?
Cuz you know...it worked so well over the Clintoon years.
If so...this guy has no place in being a commander on a "battlefield".
Anyone with half a brain reading this article would realize how contradictory it is.
sir winston is spinning in his grave.
Spot on. The good general would do well to take a look at what's become of the UK.
Much ado about nothing.
and a tale told by an idiot.
This is an old argument British generals have used against American forces. They don't know the local culture and they insist on playing the game by American rules. It goes all the way back to General Pershing and the AEF in 1917!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.