Iraq gets an upgrade

January 20, 2004 3:03 PM

Implications of a 4-Star Command in Iraq.In an small press release, it was recently announced that Iraq *may* be getting a 4-star general, but *not* to replace the current 3-star military commander of that nation. So what difference does a single star make? "...In other words, the Defense Department is putting forward the idea of another regional command because it anticipates the possibility of intensifying combat operations throughout the region. The war in Iraq might be coming under control, but from the standpoint of the Defense Department, the end of the Iraq campaign is the preface to follow-on campaigns."
posted by kablam (14 comments total)

"Put another way, a bit more crassly, Baghdad Command will be good to go right after the November elections."

Oh boy. It sounds like Frum and Perle might get what they want.

Good link. Thanks, kablam.
posted by homunculus at 3:17 PM on January 20, 2004

This is hardly an earth-shattering development. It makes complete sense in terms of military operations, geography, and a very realistic view of the region. No need to read anything "sinister" or underhanded into it. CENTCOM has long been an odd bird - being geographically separated from its region of responsibility - by half the world, no less. Putting the military personnel that are responsible for the region actually IN the region makes perfect sense.
posted by davidmsc at 4:44 PM on January 20, 2004

sounds like one small piece of the global domination puzzle - another is the moon/mars cover story for the military domination of space ... which will be just one of the lies we'll be hearing from the boy prince tonight
posted by specialk420 at 4:49 PM on January 20, 2004

The Defense Department does not decide where conflicts will happen. It prepares for them where they are most likely.

As another example we trained against USSR troops for 45 years with millions of men lined up on the USSR border in Europe. Does that mean we planed on attacking the USSR?
posted by stbalbach at 5:30 PM on January 20, 2004

Sounds perfectly logical, since CENTCOM is not exactly one of the most stable areas on the globe.

Wouldn't want to hear bitching about how Gen. Abizaid was too busy with Iraq to deal with with the rest of the region.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 5:31 PM on January 20, 2004

The Defense Department does not decide where conflicts will happen. It prepares for them where they are most likely.

I would think conflict might be very likely if Dubya had already decided on it. Like he did in January 2001, with the Iraq war.
posted by bashos_frog at 5:45 PM on January 20, 2004

specialk420: don't assume a petty lie when a grand conspiracy may be at work. homunculus' "Frum und Perle" (oddly Germanic, that) comment, I think, actually *under*-estimates the "master plan", here.

News context, just today: Syria threatened by Europe, Europe now toeing the US line. Iran announces contracts for construction of 5 nuclear plants. US intelligence forces crawling all over *Libya* looking for WMD-stuff. India completes purchase of $5B aircraft carrier *and* partially opens Rupee to international currency float(!). China experiencing massive oil-energy crisis. US opening major anti-terrorist C&C center in West Africa to concentrate on five African nations.

There is a huge amount of stuff going on right now, and the US is trying to have a finger in every pie. And Iraq, or "United States East", as it might soon be called, is smack dab in the middle of it all.

BTW, the nickname for the new Iraqi currency is "Bremer Dinars". At its current rate of appreciation, it will be at par with the Swiss Franc in less than a year.
posted by kablam at 5:46 PM on January 20, 2004

kablam - great catch, sharp eye.

"don't assume a petty lie when a grand conspiracy may be at work. homunculus' "Frum und Perle" (oddly Germanic, that) comment, I think, actually *under*-estimates the "master plan", here." - Kablam, do you mean a plan al a Zbigniew Brzezinski's "Grand Chessboard" combined also with the strategic vision of "Rebuilding America's Defenses" ?

Or even more than that ?
posted by troutfishing at 8:48 PM on January 20, 2004

Peak Oil.
posted by FormlessOne at 11:25 PM on January 20, 2004

The Chinese are the ones to watch out for. You know it, I know it, and the corporation A.K.A. America knows it. This is all a prelude to the Chino-American War.
posted by internook at 3:19 AM on January 21, 2004

Chino-American War

and should it happen will we look back and ask ourselves if we did everything possible to stop it? include working our asses off to get the man who thinks god talks to him and tells him to invade other nations and kill people out of office?
posted by specialk420 at 7:03 AM on January 21, 2004

troutfishing: I'm seeing geopolitical realignments way beyond anything since the USSR collapsed.
The Indian FM is forming *several* ententes with other groups of nations in Central Asia. (He has got to be the hardest working guy around.)
SEATO is coming alive again, with an Asiatic-bloc version of NAFTA. Back in Central Asia, the US and Russia are vying for military bases in ALL of the "-istans".
China just codified private property, for heaven's sake.

China is also undergoing a *massive* military buildup, but a "smarter, not harder" approach: fewer bodies, higher tech. India has now jumped on the buildup bandwagon and is getting large amounts high tech from ISRAEL(!) and Russia. The Indian and US military are up to *something* together.

The Chechen affair is utterly nightmarish, and Chechen islamists are in full export Jihad mode, turning up in several other countries.

Syria is terrified, now that the EU has joined with the US to get them to "de-WMD", or else; so it is trying to make nice to Egypt and Turkey--all fearing a Kurdistan in North Iraq. Iran is trying to get back with Egypt. The US has suggested to Lebanon that it may purge the Bekaa Valley of Hizbollah. (Hope you don't mind.) Iran is having internal problems, but of doubtful intensity.

The US's "SOG War" is going full tilt, with a Divisions' worth of assassins actively spying on and murdering any and all troublemakers in every corner of the planet.

The whole thing is a game of "52-card pick up". And though he shuns any publicity, Colin Powell must be working twice as hard as he did during Gulf War I.

Busy, busy, busy.
posted by kablam at 8:41 AM on January 21, 2004

We have been cursed to live in interesting times.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:09 PM on January 21, 2004

kablam - thanks. I'll glean through that busy list....

Hmmm......(gears whirr in head)...
posted by troutfishing at 10:22 PM on January 21, 2004