This is a great article about Major General Jim Molan, an Austrailian officer who eventually served in Iraq, eventually second in command to US General George Casey.

How many Americans know that it was an Austrailian Coalition General who planned and directed last November's offensive by coalition forces in Fallujah? Who led coalition forces to secure Bagdhad for January's elections?

In April and May last year the battle to protect Iraq's already degraded power grid hung in the balance. On three occasions the power in Baghdad was virtually cut off and sewage and water were not being pumped. At one stage the coalition was running about 800 fuel trucks per day into Iraq to cope after attacks on refinery capacity squeezed petrol supplies.

"We were being extraordinarily defeated on the infrastructure side when I first arrived," Molan says. "When I took over we were down to three or four hours a day of power in Baghdad [it's now about 12] and the bad guys were going out and blowing any pipes they wanted."

At one stage Molan employed giant C17 aircraft direct from California to fly in repair towers for the electricity network. Special dedicated repair teams, protected by security forces, worked around the clock.

You should read the whole article, it's a good read, and you won't hear about it on the MSM.

Despite the sea of pessimism in the media about developments in Iraq, Molan stresses where the insurgents have failed. They have failed to stop the transition to an Iraqi transitional government and failed to stop the January elections. In April last year there was only one usable Iraqi army battalion. There are now more than 100 battalions, many of which have had combat experience.

The key question is whether the US-led coalition can successfully transfer the core counterinsurgency fight to the new Iraqi Government and its security forces. How long will it take? Molan expects coalition military forces to phase down from 2006-07. But he echoes the words of caution of Casey, his former commander: Do not rush the Iraqi Government or security force to failure.

"We will [make the] transition based on the conditions," he says. "The south is pretty healthy. The Kurdish lands are secure. Two of the worst areas of Baghdad are being secured by the Iraqi security forces.

"The Government is just standing on its feet. You have to create capacity in the ministries. There's great relief that Saddam has gone. Extraordinary relief. What concerned all of us was the spirit of Iraq. Had Saddam deprived Iraqis of their spirit? Every so often we saw that no one would step up to the crease and no one would take responsibility. But once they trusted you there was incredible bravery."

Posted by Michael at August 22, 2005 08:23 PM