DISSENSION IN THE RANKS….Michael Gordon reports that the ISG’s military advisors think the ISG’s primary military recommendation ? embedding U.S. advisors with Iraqi units and then withdrawing U.S. combat troops within a year ? is a nonstarter:
Jack Keane, the retired acting Army chief of staff who served on the group?s panel of military advisers, described that goal as entirely impractical. ?Based on where we are now we can?t get there,? General Keane said in an interview, adding that the report?s conclusions say more about ?the absence of political will in Washington than the harsh realities in Iraq.?
….The group?s final military recommendations were not discussed with the retired officers who serve on the group?s Military Senior Adviser Panel before publication, several of those officers said.
Say what? I’m perfectly open to the idea that civilians sometimes have military insights that the military itself is unable to come to terms with. But did the commission really not even discuss its military recommendations with its own military advisory panel? That sure seems like a fast way to ensure that its proposals will be tossed into the ash heap without any hesitation.
