"FIASCO" TIDBITS

Thomas Ricks did a LOT of research for his book, FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, and I'll share some of it here.

First, there's the story of the missing MPs (pp.83-84). Col. Teddy Spain originally was supposed to lead 20 companies of MPs into Iraq but that was pared down within a couple of months of the invasion to less than 3 companies. They certainly could've been useful in reducing the chaos after Baghdad fell.

Then there's the story of the missing Army division (p. 84). As late as October, 2002, an entire Army division was assigned to Anbar Province but by January 2003, it had been eliminated and replaced with a few Special Forces personnel. This thinness of coverage was a great help to the Baathist insurgents.

Finally, there's the story of the missing heavy armored division (pp. 121-22). The military did have a plan to send many more troops to Iraq after the war began but Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz drastically cut the forces that would be sent. Gen. James Thurman, director of ground forces operations, and Gen. David McKiernan, commander of all ground forces, both wanted and argued for the 1st Cavalry Division to be sent but it was dropped at the last moment because Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were too stubborn.