Donna Diane

The games that have been afoot over choosing the next Commandant of the Marine Corps were for naught. Those within the Navy who have a negative agenda for the Marine Corps and an administration that wants gays openly admitted to the military have been bested by fate. For that I say “thank you” to General Stanley McChrystal.

Regarding General James F. Amos

I’m sure that six months ago the thought of being selected as the next Commandant of the Marine Corps had not entered General Amos’ mind.  That job just never goes to aviators and we are fighting a ground war so reasoning dictates that General Mattis or Lieutenant General Dunford would have been a better choice. They are, in the parlance of the Marine Corps, “grunt” generals, and more connected to the Marines on the ground doing the face to face fighting than our aviator General Amos.

With that said, I believe General Amos won’t be the push-over that our Secretary of Defense believes he is. That is after all the reason Robert Gates selected Amos over Mattis and Dunford.  Gates, or someone he is fronting for wants to make some significant changes to the Marine Corps and they know that the current Commandant General Conway, and General Mattis and Lieutenant General Dunford will strongly oppose those changes.  Gates knows Conway, Mattis and Dunford are tenacious and victorious in battle so he selected the guy he thinks he has the best chance of defeating.

Honestly, I believe Gates has sorely underestimated General Amos because he is an American and a Marine first. If he damages the Corps he also damages our country and our Marine aviators, I just can’t see a Marine General doing that. But what is a small minded adversary to do when your choices are limited to Marines to lead the Corps! Perhaps Gates and the people for whom he is a proxy would have preferred to choose an Admiral to lead the Marines.

Regarding General Stanley A. McChrystal

He was a poor fit with leading the war in Afghanistan from the beginning. Don’t construe that to mean he’s not a good General, however few Generals are good at all things.  For the last twenty years General McChrystal’s career has been focused on special operations. When it came time to command regular ground forces any connections he may have had with traditional ground forces were twenty years old and like brain synapses, when connections are not used they deteriorate. He failed to connect with his troops, his immediate subordinates and just about anyone except for those in his specialty. That failure made him ineffective as a leader and vulnerable.

Regarding General David Howell Petraeus

Oh this fellow is easy to talk about. First and foremost he is genuinely respectful of all branches of our military and all ranks. As an excellent leader he knows how to exercise control over subordinates so they feel respected and compelled to do their duty. Plus, who knows if he likes our current President or not and that’s exactly the way it should be, our military should exhibit no politics. President Obama is his boss and Petraeus respects that.

Petraeus’ is no prima donna. His intent is to win and thus he is open to ideas that may enhance his chance to win. If winning and securing America and freedom means having tea with bin Laden then that option will be on the table and he will execute it with authority, dignity, and prowess.

Geeze, what a mess General Petraeus has to clean up!

Regarding General James N. Mattis

I am pleased that my favorite four star, Marine General James N. Mattis, has been selected to head CENTCOM, it’s the circuitous route that carried him there that I find disheartening. He should have been selected as Commandant of the Marine Corps with Lieutenant General Dunford as the Assistant Commandant. After all, Dunford is a young man and we can have him as the next Commandant. I like to get all the mileage I can out of my excellent Marine Corps Generals. But oh my God, a Mattis-Dunford team would have been impossible for the Navy and Gates to control! Their combination in Iraq proved they are a formidable pairing.

The Mattis-Petraeus pairing is also formidable. Someone asked me today if General Mattis’s selection to CENTCOM made him General Petraeus’ boss. I suppose so, but the two will act synergistically with neither having to impose one’s will over the other. That’s what they do.

Lieutenant General John R. Allen

Well, this fine general has been royally screwed by SECDEF Gates. Had all things gone as they should have Mattis would be Commandant, Petraeus would have taken Afghanistan, Allen would have been the next commander at CENTCOM, and Amos, another fine general who has served with honor would have retired or been selected for a command commensurate with his experience.

I don’t know if General Mattis and Lieutenant General Allen get along, but I’m sure that because they are Marines they will come together as a team and leave the job better than when they found it. – Hard to do considering they are following Petraeus!

Regarding the Press

Holy cow! If I read one more story focused on General Mattis’ remarks in 2005 I’m going to gag. The press fixates on things that are often misinterpreted. Those 2005 remarks by Mattis showed that he respects freedom and women enough to fight for them.  I have a story that demonstrates General Mattis’ personality and command skills far better but is rarely repeated. I’m telling it from memory so you will get an abbreviated version.

During Desert Storm Colonel Mattis who was commanding the 7^th Marines at the time came upon a few of his Marines who had found the body of a badly mutilated Iraqi woman. His Marines were quite ready to kill some Iraqi soldiers they had found nearby because they were sure these soldiers had committed the atrocity. Colonel Mattis, himself enraged by the act, suppressed his anger and urge to revenge her horrible murder by killing the Iraqi soldiers and simply detained them. As it turned out the Iraqi soldiers were innocent of the woman’s murder.

– Ladies and gentlemen of the press, that is leadership at its best… That IS Jim Mattis. He does the right thing even when he is experiencing rage.

So, the fate referenced by General David Monroe Shoup, another favorite Marine, has bested our SECDEF and those to whom he is proxy. They may have placed General Amos at the helm of the Marines, but Mattis is still active duty and trust me, the Marines will support each other and do the right thing for our Corps and our country.

I’m not sure how the Army would feel about it, but General James N. Mattis would be the perfect man to replace General McChrystal who will likely resign later this week over a candid interview in Rolling Stone Magazine.

Mattis, who doesn’t give a lick about being popular would always keep the objective in mind. Bad press wouldn’t bother him and his immense knowledge of not just warfare but of the world, his adaptability, and his strong sense of morality make him the right choice for the job.  He’s also capable of successfully dealing with our waffling SECDEF and President – a talent that McChrystal lacks.

Currently our troops on the ground in Afghanistan have been left hanging without the kind of support they need to win the war. That’s due to many considerations being given to Karzai, NATO, and the fear of being lynched by the press when civilians are killed by mistake.  Only a really tough and savvy Commander can handle all that.  Mattis can breach the divide between Command and infantryman that has been generated by the current Command while keeping civilian casualties at a minimum. He will also balance Karzai, NATO and the press as best as possible.

Mattis will win if sent to Afghanistan.

Victory Point will sweep you into the arcane world of Afghanistan’s beautiful yet austere Hindu Kush Mountains, a place ruled by a mix of ancient tribalism and Islam. This recounting of two historic military operations in the ongoing war against terror is written with the riveting passion usually found in first class works of fiction.

You will experience fear, laugh at jarhead humor, cry for our lost warriors, and cheer for grunts, Warthogs, and amazing feats of flying by Shock Army and Dustoff aviators. Exhausted from hiking nearly vertical terrain in 120 degree temperatures while carrying 130 pounds of gear each, the grunts of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines crushed a ruthless Islamic fundamentalist. This is the true story of men whose resolve to win surpassed the most punishing environment imaginable and an evil enemy who had all the advantages.

Read the entire book and let Ed Darack educate you. From the first forays into the seemingly impassable Hindu Kush Mountains by Alexander the Great in 330 BC to the Soviets of the 1980’s, the peoples of this region have been invaded time after time experiencing some of the most gruesome and widespread acts of inhumanity in history.

Your gut will churn as you read about the widow and her child who were doused in gasoline and burnt alive by the Soviets, and your heart will soar with pride as one Marine enlists the help of Americans back home to build and supply a girl’s school.

Victory Point is the real story of our military and how this war is being fought. It tells about the mistakes, the chance happenings, the value of human intelligence, the plans that get pushed aside making operations more dangerous, and the gut feelings that turn out to be true. You will learn why Marines persevere when all others fail.

A personal note: I am biased towards these Marines. It was early June 2005 when I browsed the list of units in Afghanistan on AnySoldier.com. I selected three units of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines to support and immediately started writing weekly letters and sending bi-weekly care packages to the three units. During the several months that I supported these Marines I received nearly thirty letters from them; some written just after returning from the very missions chronicled in this engaging book. At the time I didn’t realize how treacherous their missions had been.

Sunday morning I surfed to the front page of the Washington Post as usual and found this article:

At Afghan outpost, Marines gone rogue or leading the fight against counterinsurgency?

There are many problems with this piece of writing beginning with its title. Mr. Chandrasekaran frivolously uses the word rogue thus bringing into question the intent of the actions of my Marines in Marjah.

rogue
1. a dishonest or unprincipled person, esp a man; rascal; scoundrel
2. Often jocular a mischievous or wayward person, often a child; scamp

That one word, rogue, implies that BGen Nicholson and my Marines no long honor the ethos of our Marine Corps. That ethos is strongly rooted in heritage, patriotism, discipline, and an undying fidelity to our country and our citizens.

BGen Nicholson and my Marines would NEVER abandon their ethos and they would never lose a battle or war unless ordered to by the politicians back home. (Politicians usually influenced by your kind of irresponsible journalism.)

Next Mr. Chandrasekaran calls into question the need for my Marines’ campaign in Marjah by quoting but not naming a “senior official.” How on earth could a journalist supposedly familiar with this war in Afghanistan have such a complete and utter lack of knowledge of how this type of war must be waged? Mr. Chandrasekaran, have you been snoozing for the last nine years? Who is the “senior official” and what experience do they have in winning wars?

Mr. Chandrasekaran believes my Marines would be better used in Kandahar where a large battle is reported to be brewing. After all, there aren’t very many people in Marjah and the surrounding areas, not compared to the cities. Perhaps Mr. Chandrasekaran and his unnamed “senior official” have no concept of the history of war in Afghanistan. You know, like how bin Laden found his way to the Hindu Kush during the 1980’s, and how the Soviets controlled the cities but not the lesser populated areas. For your information Mr. Chandrasekaran, the Soviets got their fannies kicked.

Mr. Chandrasekaran perhaps we’ll take the advice of your unnamed “senior official” and just leave Helmand Province on its own. That way as the battle in Kandahar is prosecuted Marjah and the rest of Helmand Province can serve as a safe haven for the enemy to regroup in as they are pushed out of Kandahar. (Just kidding, BGen Nicholson, the incoming MajGen Mills and my Marines would sooner cut off their own arms than lose.)

Mr. Chandrasekaran the title of your article can only be meant to cause trouble between the services and for the very Marines who would gladly give their lives so you can exercise your right to haphazardly practice your trade. Your article fails to make a cogent argument that my Marines have gone rogue but you didn’t mind getting the readership from your irresponsible headline. How many people simply read the headline and erroneously concluded that my Marines had gone rogue?

And Mr. Chandrasekaran, they are MY Marines. I am part of “that country” and “the citizens” they have an undying fidelity to. I proudly claim each and every one of them!!!