America's Destruction of Iraq

Michael M. O'Brien

Description

America's Destruction of Iraq by Washington insider Michael M. O'Brien details the origins of radical Islamic terrorism now spreading across the Middle East and North Africa. The outgrowth of America's involvement in Iraq, culminating with its March 2003 invasion, is the Islamic State–the most violent terrorist organization in history.

Michael O'Brien is an outlier: a conservative and former political appointee in the administration of George W. Bush, with an abiding contempt for the political and military mismanagement of the Iraq War, officially referred to as Operation Iraqi Freedom. A graduate of West Point and former Infantry officer, and a former U.S. government Contracting Officer, O'Brien saw the effects of the Iraq invasion from the inside out–not as a soldier but as a contractor advising the new Iraqi Army and Ministry of Defense on its physical infrastructure, including the acquisition of land and Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) originally built for Coalition forces.

Compounding in outrage, compelling in detail, Michael O'Brien condemns the waste of tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, and the needless loss of American and Iraqi lives. The Bush administration's desire for war was built on fabricated intelligence and the political agendas of a handful of senior officials. But it is the senior American military for whom O'Brien has his greatest disdain. They should have known how to properly execute the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and the courage to tell their political superiors what it would take to succeed, come what may to their careers.

America's Destruction of Iraq is a detailed exposé of the "military-industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned America of in 1961. Only someone with Michael O'Brien's background and experience, who was at the heart of America's so-called 'reconstruction' of Iraq, can accurately describe America's intervention in Iraq for what it is: a disaster in magnitude equal to the quagmire of the Vietnam War.

Sujets

• Political Science
• Middle Eastern
• World

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 08 juin 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780992548759
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

America’s Destruction of Iraq
 
 
Michael M. O’Brien

Copyright Michael M. O’Brien
All Rights Reserved
Published in eBook format by A Sense Of Place Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-0-9925-4875-9
 
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
 
 
Cover Photograph
People walk past destroyed buildings in the Sadriyah outdoor market, located in a predominantly Shi’ite area of Baghdad on Sunday, February 4, 2007. The day before, a suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with a ton of explosives obliterated the market, instantly killing more than 135 people while they shopped. The total injured was nearly 350. It was one of the deadliest suicide bombing attacks since the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The following day I saw this picture on the cover of Star and Stripes, the newspaper for U.S. military personnel. I decided then it would be on the cover of this book. (AP Photo (with permission)/Khalid Mohammed)
 
Visit my website at:
www.warfare-inc.com

 
 
To Mom and Dad

THIS BOOK IS BASED ON actual events. I use my real name. I have omitted the names of certain people and organizations I write about in a negative light for the sole purpose of avoiding a law suit. That by no means diminishes the things they did, or the consequences of their actions. The only names I retain are those of public figures or organizations.

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Anita Gadhia-Smith, Psy.D, who gave me much appreciated advice on the first edition of this book, America’s Failure in Iraq, and Charles Protzman for his editing assistance. I would also like to thank U.S. Army Colonel (retired) Douglas Macgregor, for his insight into combat operations during Operation Desert Storm. Thanks also to Tyler Drumheller, who met with me and told me about his experience at the Central Intelligence Agency, and about his book. Andrew Bacevich provided me with a broader look at the “military-industrial complex” in the modern world. Lawrence Sellin (U.S. Army Colonel (retired)) has provided on-going insight into the crazy world of political correctness, and just where it is leading the United States.
I want to thank Joyce Battle for her project, The Iraq War- Part I: The U.S. Prepares for Conflict, 2001. This extensive compilation of statements made by the key players in Washington who planned our invasion of Iraq is without equal.
I would also like to express my thanks and gratitude to my West Point classmate, Michael Sheehan. Mike was the Ambassador-At-Large for Counterterrorism the last two years of the Clinton administration. He is currently head of the Counterterrorism Center at West Point, which was given to the academy as a “gift” by my class, the Class of 1977. Mike’s leadership in diplomacy and counterterrorism rank him at the highest levels of our government. The Counterterrorism Center would not have been possible without the generous support of Vinnie Viola, another West Point classmate and former president of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and owner of the Florida Panthers.
And I want to thank John Stapleton of A Sense of Place Publishing for encouraging me to update and re-publish my story, Xavier Comas of Cover Kitchen for his inspirational cover design, and Rahul Singh of Anant Corporation for his marketing excellence.


Iraq
(Courtesy: Nations Online Project)
 

Baghdad
Sadr City is the large rectangular-shaped area to the northeast, across the Tigris River from the International Zone (IZ). Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), the headquarters of NMF-I, is to the west of downtown Baghdad. Route Irish is the highway connecting the IZ and the airport.
(Courtesy: The National Imagery and Mapping Agency)

 

Baghdad City showing the International Zone, formerly called the Green Zone, and surrounding area. This photograph shows the exact same area as the map above.
(Courtesy: Iraq Slogger)
 

Closer view of the International Zone (Green Zone). The Iraqi Ministry of Defense is the large building just below and to the right of the North Gate (upper right corner of the Green Zone). The Republican Palace is the building labeled “US Embassy” at the bend in the Tigris River (lower right).
(Courtesy: War News Updates)

 
 
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
 
 
“Conscription forms armies of citizens, voluntary enlistment forms armies of vagabonds and criminals.”
 
Napoleon Bonaparte
 
 
“I had other priorities in the ‘60s than military service.”
 
Dick Cheney prior to becoming U.S. Secretary of Defense (1989)
Glossary of Acronyms BIAP Baghdad International Airport CAFTT Coalition Air Force Transition Team CENTCOM Central Command CFLCC Coalition Forces Land Component Command CIA Central Intelligence Agency CMATT Coalition Military Assistance Training Team CPA Coalition Provisional Authority CPATT Coalition Police Assistance Training Team DG Director General DHS Department of Homeland Security DoD Department of Defense EFP Explosively Formed Penetrators FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FBO Foreign Buildings Operations GRD Gulf Region District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HATT Health A ff airs Transition Team IED Improvised Explosive Device IGE Independent Government Estimate (for construction contracts) IRMO Iraq Reconstruction Management Office IZ International Zone JASG Joint Area Support Group JCCI Joint Contracting Command-Iraq JHQTT Joint Headquarters Transition Team JSOC-I Joint Special Operations Command-Iraq K-1 Kirkuk KBR Kellogg Brown & Root KMTB Kirkush Military Training Base M-4-TT Ministry of Defense Logistics Transition Team MNC-I Multi-National Corps-Iraq MNF-I Multi-National Forces-Iraq MNSTC-I Multi-National Security Transition Team-Iraq MOD Ministry of Defense MODTT Ministry of Defense Transition Team MOF Ministry of Finance MOI Ministry of Interior MOITT Ministry of Interior Transition Team MWR Morale, Welfare and Recreation NGA National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency NSA National Security Agency OBO Overseas Buildings Operations OHS Office of Homeland Security OIF Operation Iraqi Freedom PSD Personal Security Detail RFP Request for Proposals (for construction contracts) RPG Rocket-Propelled Grenade SEIU Service Employees International Union SF Special Forces SOW Scope of Work (for construction contracts) WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction
Introduction
THE IS A TRUE STORY. It is a story of how one very powerful country destroyed a very weak one, while all along professing to save it. It describes my personal experiences between the First Gulf War and the outbreak of Operation Iraqi Freedom, details my 14 month experience in Iraq from July 2006 to September 2007, and ends with an overview of the current situation in Iraq. America’s Destruction of Iraq is the story of how the United States of America proceeded to destroy the very country it professed to the world it was trying to save. President George W. Bush told the world that Saddam Hussein was about to use nuclear weapons, gas, or biological agents, “weapons of mass destruction,” or WMD. This was not true, as I will describe in detail. Bush invaded Iraq, a sovereign country that presented no threat to the security of the United States, which is a violation of international law. After the United States invaded Iraq, our subsequent efforts completely failed. Yet we stayed in Iraq trying to save it from various fundamentalist Muslim groups, including al Qaeda (now the Islamic State), that began to appear seemingly out of thin air. The United States attempted all this with mismanagement and botched planning on a scale never seen before, by people who were supposed to know what they were doing.
To provide a better understand of the problems in Iraq today I begin with a brief look at the Gulf War of 1991. Because that conflict was not terminated effectively by George H.W. Bush, it started a domino effect in the Middle East. Twelve years later his son, George W. Bush, went back to ‘finish’ the job, but it didn’t work out. On the contrary, it was a complete failure. The domino effect started by the father was blown out of control by his son. (At the time of this writing another son, Jeb Bush, is planning to run for president in 2016!)
In addition to America’s failure in Iraq since 1991, I draw analogies to our failure in Afghanistan as well. At the outset, however, the primary difference between Iraq and Afghanistan must be stated up front—the United States had valid reasons for going into Afghanistan after the events of September 11, 2001, but we didn’t have any valid reasons for invading Iraq in March of 2003. This difference has plagued our country since, and will haunt us for decades to come.
My journey to Iraq began in July 2006, working for a defense contractor based in Alexandria, Virginia. I spent 14 months there and came back in September 2007 a different person. My eyes were opened by the things I will describe in this book. My eyes were also opened to a bigger problem in America that most people don’t have any idea exists. That problem is the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, abuse of power. This is shared by both the civilian leadership, which implements its power through the military it commands. But this power has to be fed. It is fed by the “military-industrial complex” that President Eisenhower warned us about when he left office in 1961. 1
Since my return from Iraq nothing has improved there. On the contrary, it’s gotten much worse, as I feared it would. It took Barack Hussein Obama more than four years to make good on his campaign pledge to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, but thousands of security contractors—merc