Col. Jeff McCausland On The Latest Developments In Iraq
PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - CBS News Military Analyst and former Army Colonel Jeff McCausland joined The KDKA Morning News with Larry Richert for the latest concerning the situation in Iraq.
Reports continue to come in of Iraqi soldiers throwing down their weapons and uniforms and deserting their posts. After being trained by the U.S. Army why would they abandoned their responsibility?
McCausland who fought in the first Gulf War and made five-trips to Iraq says, "we, the U.S. military, are very good at training people how to fight, we can't train them why they should (fight)." He adds it is a failure in leadership.
"There (are) reports of senior (Iraqi) officers running away and if they run away the soldiers are not going to stand," says McCausland.
There is evidence that in the three-years since the U.S. left Iraq, "that the al-Maliki government has alienated the Sunni population refused to pay the "Sons Of Iraq" who fought with us against Al-Qaeda."
Some Iraqi's even say they would rather live under a government controlled by the terrorist organization ISIS than the current government.
McCausland says, "This is a country that has been racked with violence literally in many ways going back to the gulf war, almost 25 years ago."
The continued conflict between Sunni, Shiite, and the Kurds in McCausland's opinion could result in a 3 way split of the country. "In the longer term this country as one unified state is not viable," says McCausland.
When it comes to the short term, Col. McCausland thinks that the Iraqi government will keep control of Baghdad and that the U.S. is deciding whether or not to get involved militarily with aircraft support.
McCausland says, "I think the president is quite right in saying immediate response would satisfy the Washington problem. It doesn't satisfy the Iraqi problem." Adding reaching out to the other side politically would be the best long term solution.
Col. Jeff McCausland Talks Latest Developments In Iraq
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