Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The Army and the mirror

Does anyone know of any official Army publication that critiques and compares the performance of Army generals in Iraq? I can’t remember any, but 10 years is a long time and there is a chance I have forgotten something. I don’t mean individual articles in Military Review or papers written at the Command and General ...

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Does anyone know of any official Army publication that critiques and compares the performance of Army generals in Iraq? I can't remember any, but 10 years is a long time and there is a chance I have forgotten something.

Does anyone know of any official Army publication that critiques and compares the performance of Army generals in Iraq? I can’t remember any, but 10 years is a long time and there is a chance I have forgotten something.

I don’t mean individual articles in Military Review or papers written at the Command and General Staff College. I’ve read (and quoted) those in my last three books. What I mean is official publications like On Point (which was good) and On Point II (which wasn’t). That is, the studies that carry the imprint of a preface by a sponsoring three-star or four-star officer.

If not, why not? Is the Army really going to take the Lake Woebegone line that all its generals were above average? Or is just going to fold its arms and believe that such criticism is too rude for public discourse?

Speaking of generals, I still haven’t heard back from Lt. Gen. Huntoon about the nature of the misconduct the IG found him to have committed. 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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