Leadership: Breaking The Cycle of Military Incompetence
March 12, 2022: At the end of 2021 the United States again withdrew its combat and combat support forces from Iraq, leaving behind 2,500 American troops to provide training assistance as Iraq tries to rebuild its military yet another time and do it without repeating mistakes and bad habits that persisted a century became a nation after World War I (1914-18).
The Americans have been doing this since 2003, when they ousted Saddam Hussein, a successful Sunni Arab ruler who concentrated on protecting the wealth and power of the Sunni Arab minority. For centuries the Sunni Arab minority, especially those from Baghdad, dominated local government. The Turks recognized this and put the better educated, motivated and organized Sunni Arab “Baghdadis” in charge. When Britain was assigned the job of establishing an independent Iraqi government, they followed the Turk example and put the Baghdadis in charge. That backfired in 1940 when the Baghdadis decided that the growing power of Nazi Germany provided an opportunity to punish the British and enhance Iraqi power. Secret negotiations with Germany were undertaken and Germany prepared to airlift in troops and equipment followed by a German ground offensive on the Persian Gulf oil. The British soon became aware of this and put together a force of three divisions, one of them formed around the Jordanian Arab Legion, and invaded Iraq. After a three-week campaign they were in Baghdad and found another group of Baghdadis who were willing to remain loyal to Britain. Dismayed at the dismal performance of their new Iraqi allies, the Germans canceled plans to move against the Persian Gulf and invaded Russia. The U.S. carried out a similar operation, using two American and one British divisions in a three-week campaign to overthrow the Saddam Baghdadi government.
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