European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Iraq Lesson: "I now realise that I am a European"

by DoDo
Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 04:30:55 AM EST

Andrew Gilligan, the former BBC journalist at the centre of the row about the Blair government's "sexed up" Iraq dossiers and the suicide of WMD expert Dr. David Kelly, has two articles in The Telegraph about the behind-the-scenes rift between US and British militaries in Iraq.

While the Iraq endeavour was treated in public as a reinforcement of Britain's ~~First Poodle status~~Special Relationship with the USA, the documents reveal that the opposed 'soft' and 'hard' approaches to occupation led to insubordination resp. lack of information sharing and secret diplomatic reprimands.

What caught the media's attention most was the British chief of staff in Iraq, Colonel J.K.Tanner, describing his US military counterparts as "a group of Martians". However, I was even more intrigued by what he said before:

“I now realise that I am a European, not an American. We managed to get on better…with our European partners and at times with the Arabs than with the Americans. Europeans chat to each other, whereas dialogue is alien to the US military… dealing with them corporately is akin to dealing with a group of Martians.

I always viewed Britain's Special Relationship as a grand delusion, and Britain as an integral part of Europe, only in denial. Would the political class and Daily Mail readers share Tanner's exerience, the UK might be a more constructive member of the EU...

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Iraq Lesson: "I now realise that I am a European" | 18 comments (18 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Seed comment/Tip jar (3.70 / 10)

Insubordination:

Gen Stewart added: "I spent a significant amount of my time `consenting and evading' US orders... Things got sticky...when I refused to conduct offensive operations against [al-Sadr's] Mahdi Army as directed [by the US]. This resulted in the UK being demarched by the US, by [Paul] Bremer [the US proconsul in Iraq] through State [the US State Department] to the UK Ambassador in Washington."
A "demarche" in this context was a formal diplomatic reprimand of a kind not normally handed out to friendly allies such as Britain. Gen Stewart said that the US military "were mortified" that it had got so far and said he "was always fully supported in the UK by the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Joint Operations."

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 04:33:16 AM EST

Re: Seed comment/Tip jar (4.00 / 5)

More data points:

From December 2005

The Dutch troops deployed in Iraq had a very different relationship with the locals than did the Americans, but American heavy-handedness ended up negatively affecting the Dutch mission.
Radio Netherlands: Stay friendly, get tough or get out?
The position of the Dutch troops stationed in southern Iraq is becoming more precarious. According to Defence Minister Henk Kamp and military personnel on the ground, the atmosphere among the local Shiite population has grown noticeably worse over recent weeks - a direct consequence of the US military campaign in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, which lies just north of the "Dutch" province of al-Muthanna. The regional authorities are also said to be less cooperative than before. Meanwhile, a perceptible increase in the level of popular support for radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr and his armed militia forces has also been reported.
A consequence of all these factors is that the cautious and friendly attitude of the Dutch troops in al-Muthanna province appears to be meeting an ever more unappreciative audience, while the number of attacks targeting the Netherlands' military forces in the area is showing a similarly rapid growth. The low point came just last Saturday with the death of a 29-year-old Dutch military police sergeant in Ar Rumaythah. Back home in the Netherlands, a tiny group of concerned relatives and friends of the troops in Iraq launched a campaign on Tuesday this week which - within the space of 24 hours - engendered political reactions, promises to re-examine the security situation and possibly even recall parliament for an emergency debate on the issue.
Juan Cole has also suggested that part of the reason for the precipitous departure of the Spanish troops from Najaf in May last year was that the US demanded that the Spanish troops "get Sadr dead or alive", which the Spanish commander in Najaf understandably refused to do. Sensing that the US was going to ignite the gunpowder keg under their feet anyway, the Spanish withdrew a couple of months ahead of schedule.
Informed Comment: Thursday, March 24, 2005
El Pais is reporting the disputes between Spanish military commanders in Najaf and US officers. The Spanish officers were appalled that Gen. Rick Sanchez wanted them to call in bombing strikes on civilian targets (a frequent US tactic in urban warfare in Iraq), and refused, sending in commandos to a hospital instead. Likewise, the Spanish declined to move against the Sadr Movement for fear of massive turbulence, so the US sent in special ops forces to arrest an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr anyway. (It is just unimaginable that the US would endanger the 1200 Spanish troops in Najaf in this high-handed way. It has been alleged to me by someone who should know that Dan Senor played a key role in this move). As the Spanish predicted, the sudden and still unexplained US assault on the Sadrists produced a massive uprising that threw the South into turmoil for two months. The Spanish by that time were fed up and the new Zapatero government determined to withdraw the Spanish military. Given how high-handedly the US treated them, you cannot blame Madrid for wanting no further part of the increasing Iraq quagmire. What comes across most strongly in this report is a general European officer-class repugnance at heavy-handed US military tactics, including especially the use of aerial bombing on civilian targets where guerrillas were present.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 04:58:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment/Tip jar (4.00 / 4)

Iraq war caused rupture between British and American military - Telegraph

Matters came to a head in March 2004 when - without even telling Britain - the Americans arrested a key lieutenant of al-Sadr and shut down his newspaper. All Iraq, including the British sector, burst into flames. General Stewart, who said, he "was trying to neutralise Sadr through the use of local Iraqis and succeeding," refused a direct US order to "conduct offensive operations" against the Sadr militia, causing a massive row which went all the way to Washington and a rare diplomatic reprimand from the US to a friendly ally.

This is the incident that precipitated Spain's exit. The arrest took place in Najaf which was nominally under Spanish command. In the riots the Spanish base was attacked and two Latin American soldiers died.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:04:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment/Tip jar (none / 1)

Humbug, that 1 rating was surely in error?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Nov 24th, 2009 at 07:52:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Iraq Lesson: I now realise that I am a E (4.00 / 2)

Here is a Gilligan speculation I disagree with, though:

Our documents detail the outbreak of trouble in a US-UK military relationship which has continued to deteriorate since, with many in the Pentagon feeling "let down" by the "weak" British. But ultimately, history may have shown that the Americans were more right than we were. By 2006-7, Britain's softly-softly tactics had left Basra in near-anarchy - while in Baghdad the US "surge" had brought about a significant reduction in violence.

Nevermind that

by the time of the 'surge', the ethnic cleaning was largely done with, hardly a success;
before, in no small part during, and after the 'surge', foreign troops were on force protection -- hardly a state of 'success';
one counter-insurgency policy that does seem to have 'worked' to some extent was the Sunni Awakening Councils;
the "surge" didn't eliminate the Americans' 2004 target al-Sadr at all;
finally, above all: none of this might have come to be had the Americans listened to the British and not bungled occupation THAT much.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 04:38:56 AM EST

Plus (none / 1)

that it is short-sighted to stick to one interventionist approach for different areas in general...

The so-called "Dutch" approach (which is largely copied from the Canadians but let the Americans not hear that) has shown to be relatively effective (but not faultless) at least in more low-populated areas. I've no idea whether it has been applied in more densely populated, urbanised areas or, if it has, how effective it has been.

by Nomad on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:31:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Plus (none / 1)

...and before we get too high about yaw-yaw in place of war-war, methinks the 'success' the European Coalition of the Willing members had with it was merely to have a peaceful relationship with the local population and militias -- NOT in creating a stable country, not to mention democratic and adopting Western values.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 06:34:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Plus (none / 1)

Excuse me, but you seem to be contrasting the European with the American approach, whilst out the limitiations of the former. That alleged American goal of a stable country democratic country chock full of western values? How's that working out?

Am I misunderstanding you? Because it seems to me that the European goals were the realistic and legitimate.

by PIGL on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 07:23:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Plus (4.00 / 7)

I went along with the contrasting of the European with the American approaches by Gilligan's sources in the diary, but, in the above comment, I went beyond it, because it is a false dichotomy. That the 'American' approach of war-war was absolutely mad and contra-productive doesn't mean that the European approach of 'yaw-yaw', as implemented in Iraq, was sufficient for anything that being left alone by locals. (I don't see how THAT is legitimate, BTW.)

To be a little more specific: even if the idiot American neocons had stood back and gave full control of the occupation to European allies (including command over US occupation troops), I don't see how they could have achieved more than relative peace on the surface until a pull-out a year or two later. After which all hell would have broken loose -- and if they stayed longer, all hell would have broken loose anyway. For,

the much-touted 'European approach' was too short on troops and money commitments to provide full-scale reconstruction and broad security;
and did not attempt to weed out the seeds of conflict (e.g. the militias swarming in and arming up, partly thanks to all-Western attempts to have local auxiliary forces instead of more occupation troops);
or plant seeds of more stability (say, some serious bottom-up democracy);
and even if European military is less crazy, the life of a local is still cheaper for them -- also see that German general with the airstrike in Afghanistan.

Methinks Europe has some delusions about to what extent they are being the better occupiers.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 02:45:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (4.00 / 2)

European Tribune - Comments - Iraq Lesson: "I now realise that I am a European"

I always viewed Britain's Special Relationship as a grand delusion, and Britain as an integral part of Europe, only in denial.

Indeed...

Hostility between British and American military leaders revealed - Telegraph

"Despite our so-called `special relationship,' I reckon we were treated no differently to the Portuguese."

Poor British, they're no better than the Portuguese...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:09:08 AM EST

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (none / 1)

I wondered about that one. It could be simple superiority complex, but it could also be an out-of-context quote, leaving out some specific incident involving the Portuguese. (Note: Portugal was one of the first to consider withdrawal.)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:17:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (4.00 / 5)

A widespread belief in military and diplomatic circles that, because the British are first and most enthusiastic supporters of US military policies, our opinions carry greater weight.

As I've mentioned previously, kings do not consult with vassals over policy. We are merely a Foreign Legion, there to do their bidding, but otherwise keep out of the way.

It is regrettable that belief in this special relationship and consequent extra clout persists in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. As Paul Simon said;-

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:32:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (none / 1)

One of my favorite quotes from song lyrics.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 06:04:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"I now realise that I am a European" (4.00 / 3)

I remember reading somewhere that, following similar issues regarding differences of opinion over policy in the Korean War that were felt to result form entirely different military cultures, a decision was taken that British Forces would never enter into operations with the Americans ever again.

I think it was a relevant strand to the British refusal to joining the Vietnam War.

Saldy this is now forgotten

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:35:32 AM EST

"I now realise that I am a European" (4.00 / 4)

I watched the last episode of "Generation Kill" last night, based on the US Marines push into Baghdad.

It was quite evident that the guys on the ground could see that policy was pointing in the wrong direction but they were powerless to affect it.

If only we could have had a copy of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" before we wnet in. But the neocons wouldn't have paid attention even then. I don't hold to the conspiracy theory slant of "Shock doctrine", but it was clear that the neocons did view the enterprise in a certain piratical way as an opportunity to plunder both the Iraqi and US Treasury

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 05:41:12 AM EST

Re: I now realise that I am a European (4.00 / 2)

I don't hold to the conspiracy theory slant of "Shock doctrine", but it was clear that the neocons did view the enterprise in a certain piratical way as an opportunity to plunder both the Iraqi and US Treasury.

Pirates often didn't have to engage in lengthy planning to conduct an attack. They all pretty much knew what to do.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Mon Nov 23rd, 2009 at 06:10:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (4.00 / 2)

When I relocated to the Silicon Valley some 12 years ago, a colleague from the UK was also relocating as an expat at about the same time. So, we ended up having to face the same day to day paperwork, administrative stuff and other issues you're faced with when moving from country A to country B.

My British colleague soon discovered, to his utter horror, that despite the common language and Common Law, nothing about doing daily business in California was close as to what he expected: Social Security, driving license (he quoted to me: "You must drive on the pavement"), bank account, car buying, credit cards, etc... everything was foreign to him about as much as it was to me. Except that, as a non-Anglophone, I kinda expected everything to be different; he didn't at first.

He was definitely not expecting so many - and so profound - differences between the US and the UK and, least of all, to find his own experiences so similar than those of a - gasp - Frenchman.

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Tue Nov 24th, 2009 at 07:30:20 AM EST

Re: "I now realise that I am a European" (none / 0)

Yes, I've noticed far less culture shock on my visits to Bulgaria than I felt once the otherness of America gripped me. If it's in a foreign language you are insulated from it.

America is, for a Brit, a strangely odd place.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Nov 24th, 2009 at 08:51:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Iraq Lesson: "I now realise that I am a European" | 18 comments (18 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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