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| Iraq |
| Little-known pilot shaped U.S. strategy in Iraq |
| 2003-03-21 |
| Edited for brevity The man who is perhaps most responsible for the U.S. military strategy in Iraq never wore a general's stars, and, during his lifetime, was despised by most who did. Accolades from the brass, like medals awarded fallen soldiers, have arrived posthumously for John Boyd. "John Boyd is one of the principal military geniuses of the 20th century, and hardly anyone knows his name," said John Thompson, a former Canadian army officer who is managing director of the MacKenzie Institute, a Toronto-based think tank which studies global conflict. The ruse the United States pulled in launching the war against Iraq with a cruise missile attack on Saddam Hussein and his high command could have come straight from Boyd's playbook, said retired Gen. Michael Dugan, who was chief of staff of the Air Force during the buildup to the first Persian Gulf war. The CIA planted a false rumor with a British television network that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz had defected, hoping Aziz would go on Iraqi television to deny it. He did. The CIA tracked him back to a bunker, and the Navy and the Air Force destroyed it with cruise missiles and bombs. "The ability to find out where this bunker was and the ability to react in minutes certainly was consistent with John Boyd's thinking," Dugan said. "John Boyd was a thinker ahead of his time. Without giving him a lot of credit, the U.S. military is following his ideas." Lt. Col. Rich Liebert, who teaches tactics at the Army Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., agreed. "The constant references to, and the delay of the 'shock and awe' bombing campaign, is the kind of psychological warfare that Boyd recommended to paralyze the enemy," as well, he said. Nevertheless, a serving Army officer, a military reformer who admires Boyd, thinks that while many generals and admirals now pay lip service to Boyd's ideas, most still do not put them into practice. "Most of the generals want to inflict shock and awe on an enemy that is already shocked and awed," said the officer. "The Philadelphia police department under Frank Rizzo could have taken Baghdad by now." At first read, I thought this may be an over-simplification and praise for a local boy (Erie, PA), but the quotes from various sources give it credibility. All I know is if that whole "Aziz defected" rumor was really bait for a trap, it was damn clever, regardless of the result! |
| Posted by:Dar Steckelberg |
| #3 Bring him back from the dead... and send him out to San Francisco. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-21 22:31:59 |
| #2 I remember Frank on TV in the 60's holding up a brick and saying something to the effect of... If you throw one of these at any of my officers, they have my OK to kick the shit right out of you. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2003-03-21 13:31:05 |
| #1 "The Philadelphia police department under Frank Rizzo could have taken Baghdad by now." The Philly PD under Frank Rizzo could have taken Berlin, and the Russians would have complained about their brutality. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-03-21 12:20:42 |