Australian Major General Jim Molan AO DSC (Retd) was the leader of a multi-national force of 300,000 troops in Iraq. He has served all over the world, including in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Germany and the United States. He ran the evacuation of the Australian citizens from Jakarta and Bali during the collapse of the Suharto regime, and organised the military evacuations of thousands of foreigners in East Timor. He also commanded the evacuation force from the Solomon Islands in 2000, and was the chief of operations in Iraq during 2004 and 2005. ADM will serialise a four part opinion piece entitled "The Answer is Strategy" written by MAJGEN Molan each Monday starting 18 January.
Jim Molan | Canberra
“All delays are dangerous in war” John Dryden (English Poet Laureate 1668)
Many Australians don’t have a constant awareness that their country is at war, but it is and it has been for some considerable time. Our participation in the Middle East and in Afghanistan is not the biggest war, nor the most important challenge that the government and the ADF must prepare for, but it is immediate, emotive, expensive, and can be dangerous.
I am sure that those that run our country in our name regularly review the strategy that lies behind our involvement, but security and politics often prevents government from being as forthright with us as they might like. So now might be a good time for those of us on the periphery to consider our current involvement.
The defence website tells us that Operation OKRA is the ADF's contribution to the international effort to combat the Daesh terrorist threat in Iraq and Syria. Australia's contribution is closely coordinated with the Iraqi government, Gulf nations and a broad coalition of international partners. About 780 ADF personnel have deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation OKRA. These personnel make up an Air Task Group (400 personnel), a Special Operations Task Group (80 personnel) and a Task Group at Taji (300 personnel). So that tells us what we are doing but not why we are doing, and if it was or still is the right thing to be doing.
The need to re-evaluate our involvement is not just the recent Iraq Security Force (ISF) victory in Ramadi. That was significant because it may represent a turning point for the ISF and the Abadi government. Iraq needs more than military capability, they need a growing sense of confidence as they move on Fallujah and Mosul. Nor is it the recent spate of terrorist attacks across the world, although they do serve to bring the war into our consciousness, and ironically, may represent an indication that the pressure on Daesh in Iraq and Syria is telling.
The reason that it is a good time now to review our involvement is related to a simple statement on our Defence website which tells us that if we want to know anything else about our involvement, we should look at the US DoD website, and it is primarily the US that is changing. We are a member of a US-led coalition and while theoretically we can influence policy and strategy, Australia’s ability to do so is directly proportional to the size and nature of our military commitment. In reality, the US has the most votes.
The strategy that is decided only by the Australian government is based on whether we will participate, what force level we will contribute, how involved in the fighting the force will be, and how long we will stay involved. And of course, all of this has been decided in relation to OKRA but needs to be constantly reviewed. And we should remember that the operational strategy of the war in Iraq might be influenced by the Coalition, but quite rightly, it will be decided finally by those who are doing the fighting and dying, the Iraqis.
Regardless of the questions that arise in any review of our current wars, the answer is nearly always Strategy. The most important thing about strategy is alignment. That is, whatever is decided in any area of government policy and then realised through a strategy, must produce the effect in the real world that was intended, and do so in a timely manner. In a military sense, this requires the alignment of policy, strategy, operational concepts and tactics, and constant review of the results.
Part 2: Recent military experience by MAJGEN Molan will continue next Monday 25 January.