Comments by LTG Martin Brandtner
on Restraint or Intervention
In our Forum regarding what U.S. policy should be with respect to the growth of radical Sunni groups and Shia extremism, Steve Metcalf argued for Restraint before intervening yet again in the Middle East cauldron. We published Metcalf’s excellent presentation summary on Wednesday; below is General Brandtner’s commentary on that talk.
General Brandtner served as the J3 (Director of Operations) at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was a driving force in forming the successful coalition that repelled Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.
Restraint or Intervention?
General Brandtner stressed that his talk is not political. The issues are, but he spoke from a military point of view as it affects our national security and how we deal with the threat of global radical Islamic terrorism.
Brandtner stated that the U.S. is not exercising aggressive leadership. He said that the U.S. is not demonstrating a grasp of the global threat we are facing, and appears to be very hesitant in taking positive steps to aid our allies and defeat our adversaries. He bluntly stated that our “so-called” bombing missions, with an ordinance drop rate of 50% or less with no forward air controllers guiding the missions, along with extremely restrictive ROE’s (rules of engagement), means that the bombings have had a very limited destructive effect on ISIS. Brandter noted that many critics would say that the U.S. reactions, in the light of recent events, “is simply incomprehensible”. The U.S. does not appear to understand that recent ISIS actions (Russian airliner; Paris attacks; hostages taken in Mali; and, most likely, the attacks in California) represents a paradigm shift in the Caliphate State’s strategy. They are moving outside their territories and going on the offensive (Brandtner also expressed concern about the recent establishment of an “actively-managed colony” of ISIS on the Libyan port city of Surt). He sees this shift emanating from the growing economic and military pressure on ISIS in Syria and Iraq, which he identified as largely coming because of military activities by Russia, Iran, and, to a limited degree, Iraq.
The General said the U.S. continues to “adamantly resist joining with our NATO allies”–particularly France, Germany and the UK– using existing NATO alliance capabilities. In addition, we have not integrated the capabilities of the Arab states, with whom we must forge alliances in order to mount a comprehensive military campaign. Such a campaign should include significant ground forces, two CVBG’s (carrier battle groups) in the Mediterranean to increase air strikes, as well as an ARG/MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) to conduct SAR and quick reaction operations. The campaign must include a wide range of actions to attack and destroy ISIS formations and infrastructure, such as funding sources, cyber networks, logistics support, and staging areas.
Brandtner also lamented the lack of significant intelligence capabilities, which he stressed must be upgraded. This would be accomplished by working with our allies, and, particularly, Arab nations willing to join our effort to destroy ISIS. In his estimation, “results to date are abysmal!”
Working with our coalition allies, and possibly even the United Nations, we should exert strong punitive diplomatic measures against nations discovered to be supporting radical Islamic terrorist activities (“Good luck on that!” he joked). Regrettably, Brandtner added, there is no credible effort ongoing to launch such a campaign or take these measures. And, he added, he did not expect such an undertaking to take place for the foreseeable future.
Sadly, Brandtner added, unlike in the Gulf War in 1990– where we forged alliances with the Arab nations of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain– there is no realistic hope of duplicating that remarkable achievement.
Turning to Syria, Brandtner described that country as a “hopeless mess” and, he added, in Iraq those forces lack the motivation to mount an aggressive campaign to destroy ISIS. He did point out, however, that current Iraqi efforts to retake Ramadi offer some hope. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are concentrating on Yemen, taking on the Houthi rebels, and show little interest in engaging ISIS in Syria or Iraq.
All the while, Brandtner added, the U.S. in particular “goes about its day-to-day business as if we were in a peace time environment, and the readiness and the capability of our armed forces continue to drastically deteriorate”. Hopefully, he added, the recent series of horrific events will motivate our leadership to “wake up”.
Brandtner underlined that we must understand that “the old Middle East doesn’t exist anymore”. Therefore, we can’t continue our outdated strategy of trying to “put Humpty Dumpty back together again”. He stressed that what is needed is “an American-led coalition that will confront the threat directly”. That means well-equipped and capably-led ground forces needed to strike ISIS “devastating blows in the territories they have taken”. In short, ISIS terrorist actions have to be seriously disrupted and the world must see that the Caliphate State is clearly losing the war.
Brandtner concluded that military action would then be followed up by a strategy that includes education, economic, social and political issues. American leadership is critical in order to meet the challenge of organizing an effective coalition of Muslim nations. Failure to do this will lead to disaster, and a nightmare world for our children and grandchildren. ISIS will continue to grow, and the prospect of them acquiring nuclear weapons looms large. The U.S has no choice but to take on this daunting challenge. “Time to load and lock”.