Exclusive: 21 Generals Lead an ISIS War the U.S. Denies

[rug]

There are only 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq—about what a colonel usually commands. But for this ISIS war, as many as 21 generals have been deployed. Why?

03.31.16 1:10 AM ET
Nancy A. Youssef

In the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the U.S. military is notably short on soldiers, but apparently not on generals.

There are at least 12 U.S. generals in Iraq, a stunningly high number for a war that, if you believe the White House talking points, doesn’t involve American troops in combat. And that number is, if anything, a conservative estimate, not taking into account the flag officers running the U.S. air war, the admirals helping wage the war from the sea, or their superiors back in the Pentagon.

At U.S. headquarters inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, even majors and colonels frequently find themselves saluting superiors at a pace that outranks the Pentagon and certainly any normal military installation. With about 5,000 troops deployed to Iraq and Syria ISIS war, that means there’s a general for every 416 troops, give or take. To compare, there are some captains in the U.S. Army in charge of that many people.

Moreover, many of those generals come with staffs and bureaucracy that some argue slows decision-making against an agile terror group.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/31/exclusive-21-generals-lead-an-isis-war-the-u-s-denies.html

[Downwinder]

1. Getting their ribbons.

[Victor_c3]

3. Also combat and tax free pay

If you can straddle two months with a week in the Mideast east you get both months worth of benefits. When I was in, it was probably worth almost $1,000 a month between the two.

[bemildred]

4. +1. At our expense. nt

[hobbit709]

2. I say give them a rifle and field pack and put them up front.

Leaders are by definition up front.