Handing Over the Fight - Marine General on the Transition [Archive] - Marine Corps

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02-10-09, 08:11 AM

MILITARY: Departing Marine general cites Anbar improvement

By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer

A Camp Pendleton-based general who commanded Marines in Iraq during the last year says he's most proud of "extending the hand of friendship even in the darkest of days" of the insurgency in western Iraq.

Maj. Gen. John Kelly's comments came as he left Al Asad Airbase after leading the 25,000-member I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward in the 53,000-square-mile Anbar province.

The region borders Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia and is home to cities such as Fallujah, Haditha and Ramadi.

"What I am very proud of is the number of human beings we did not have to kill because we never stopped extending the hand of friendship even in the darkest of days gone by, and the damage we didn't do because we resorted to force last and always restrained its use when we did go to the guns," Kelly said in a prepared statement.

Completing his third tour of duty in Iraq, Kelly cited an array of civic projects that he said have helped turn a province once considered lost to anti-government forces into one of the success stories of the Iraq war.

"It wasn't all done with guns and violence, but as much with the kinds of nation-building and 'hearts and minds' program we established for the people of Anbar," Kelly said.

John Pike of Globalsecurity.org in Washington, a military monitoring group, said Kelly is accurate in his portrayal of Anbar as a place where the insurgency has been defeated.

By exhibiting strength, remaining steadfast and flashing cash, the Marine Corps can rightly boast "mission accomplished," Pike said.

"The Marine Corps got the credit when things were going bad, so they rightly get the credit for turning it around," Pike said. "They kept Anbar from completely flying apart."

Key to the success, Pike said, was demonstrating firepower, making it clear the Marines weren't leaving and using cash to make sure tribal sheiks formerly funded by Saddam Hussein's regime were able to provide the citizenry with desired goods.

"They persuaded the Sunni notables that they were the strongest tribe, they weren't going to fold and that they understood the patronage system established under Saddam ---- that's what turned it around," Pike said.

The use of cash to curry favor and fund the movement that turned the population away from the insurgency was in the context of overall Iraq spending, "the best spent money of all," he said.

During his assignment, Kelly oversaw the transfer of primary security responsibility for the province to the Iraqi government and the provincial elections that took place Jan. 31.

The general said that while he was grateful for the relatively small number of troops killed ---- 28 ---- in his recent assignment compared with the many more deaths during his two previous stints in Iraq, he will forever mourn those lost.

"I am painfully aware that for their families ... their casualty is an overwhelming statistic," Kelly said. "Their grief is my grief forever, but I still thank God there were so few this time."

The general also used the occasion of his departure to take a swipe at Iraq war opponents, referring to them as the dart-throwing "chattering class."

"The best they can do is cast doubt on our mission, our motives and our humanity," Kelly said.

Jason Lemieux, a former Marine sergeant who served three tours in Iraq before leaving the service in 2006 and until recently was active in the group Iraq Veterans Against the War, said fewer casualties and a calm Anbar does not constitute victory.

"To say we are winning or have won is a fallacy," Lemieux said. "There was no al-Qaida in Iraq until we invaded. All the reasons given for the war were lies, so there was no reason to go to war and no victory to be won."

Kelly and about 250 of the Marines and sailors he led are scheduled to arrive at Camp Pendleton late tonight.

He has been replaced in Iraq by Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Tyron from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Ellie