The Dissenter Who Changed the War

Gen. David H. Petraeus, at right, and Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno on
Thursday in Washington. Doug Mills/The New York Times

From The Washington Post:

As the No. 2 Commander in Iraq, Raymond Odierno Challenged the Military Establishment, Pressing for More Troops and a Long-Term Strategy to Guide Them.

Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno was an unlikely dissident, with little in his past to suggest that he would buck his superiors and push the U.S. military in radically new directions.

A 1976 West Point graduate and veteran of the Persian Gulf War and the Kosovo campaign, Odierno had earned a reputation as the best of the Army's conventional thinkers -- intelligent and ambitious, but focused on using the tools in front of him rather than discovering new and unexpected ones. That image was only reinforced during his first tour in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

As commander of the 4th Infantry Division in the Sunni Triangle, Odierno led troops known for their sometimes heavy-handed tactics, kicking in doors and rounding up thousands of Iraqi "MAMs" (military-age males). He finished his tour believing the fight was going well. "I thought we had beaten this thing," he would later recall.

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My Comment: The Washington Post gives the proper and long overdue recognition to General Odierno's efforts in Iraq. But the man who was instrumental for the success ... and who gave General Odierno the tools to succeed .... that man is the one who should be given the proper dues from the Washington Post .... of course, that man is President George Bush.