Hot off the press is the latest book on Gen. David Petraeus, now director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Written by Paula Broadwell, an honors graduate from the US Military Academy, with MA degrees from the University of Denver and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the author provides us with a close look at a man she describes as “possibly the most well-known general officer in America since Dwight D. Eisenhower” and “arguably the Army’s most influential general officer since World War II.”
I consider it “must” reading for officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not just for a better understanding of counterinsurgency warfare but also as a lesson on how military commanders should respond to civilian authority in the face of their own doubts and reservations about decisions involving national security issues.
For many of us with some military background, General Petraeus is possibly best remembered for commanding the “surge” in Iraq in 2007, when it appeared that the country was on the brink of disintegrating in view of increasing sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia forces. It was the additional troops brought in by the United States coupled with a brilliant counterinsurgency strategy designed by Petraeus that brought down the level of violence and restored some measure of stability in Iraq.
The “surge” in Iraq
In February 2007, President George W. Bush designated Petraeus to be commander of US forces in Iraq. A last ditch effort would be made to turn around a bleak situation. Five additional combat brigades would “surge” into Baghdad and other parts of the country, aimed at preventing civil war.
After his Senate confirmation hearings, Petraeus reported to Bush in the Oval Office.
“Betting his presidency on the success of the ‘surge,’ Bush describes the commitment of additional forces as a ‘double down strategy.’ Petraeus said it was more than that… ‘This isn’t double down, Mr. President. It’s all in.’ Petraeus stated, ‘And we need the whole US government to go all in, not just the military.’”
During the first three months of the surge, the violence actually escalated and US senators on both sides of the aisle pronounced the surge a failure, calling for its end. There were 156,000 US forces on the ground with more on the way, but enemy attacks continued to increase.
However, by July, positive results began to show, with attacks and combat losses dropping significantly and violence on the streets declining as well. By the time Petraeus left Iraq after 19 months in command, US forces had regained the initiative providing some degree of stability for the new nation.
The “drawdown” in Afghanistan.
In June 2010, after his brief stint as head of Central Command—a Florida-based combat command covering an area of responsibility that encompasses 20 countries across the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Iraq—Petraeus was named commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. One could say it was actually a demotion.
After an initial surge of some 33,000 men for Afghanistan, Obama decided to set a timetable for their drawdown. Ten thousand would be withdrawn by the end of 2011 and the remaining 23,000 by September 2012. From the accounts in the book, Petraeus had his own reservations about the drawdown schedule: “I was provided ample opportunity to contribute and I offered professional military advice that included options for implementing policy, assessment of risk for each option, and recommendations… needless to say, with the decision being announced, all of us will support the decision and strive to execute it effectively. That is our responsibility as military leaders.”
On Aug. 31, 2011, after 37 years in uniform, Petraeus retired from the military service. He asked for “a joint military parade: not an Army-only procession to symbolically mark his succession of joint commands in combat.”
Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had this to say about the retiring general: “David, you’ve run the race well, swifter and surer than the rest, and you now stand among the giants not just in our time but of all time, joining the likes of Grant and Pershing and Marshall and Eisenhower as one of the great battle captains of American history. (Obviously, Mullen is no fan of Douglas MacArthur.)
“T.E. Lawrence, a man who knew a thing or two about insurgencies, once said, ‘All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible.’ David Petraeus has indeed been a dreamer of the day, dangerous to our enemies but no greater friend to those with whom he fought alongside and fought for. He has been a dreamer with a vision and a plan to get there.”
In his final address as a soldier, Petraeus quoted his favorite passage from Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
A week after retirement, Petraeus was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden as CIA director.
Petraeus graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, finishing No. 40 in the class of 1974.