Gen. Tommy Franks,
commander of U.S. Central Command during the outbreak of war in
Iraq and Afghanistan, says the situation in both countries is
improving but there is more work to be done in fighting the global
war on terror.
Franks will speak
in Rapid City at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at the Rushmore Plaza
Civic Center Theatre, as part of the John T. Vucurevich Foundation
speaker program.
Franks said in an
interview Friday, April 4, that the Maliki government in Iraq is
making progress, but there are bound to be stumbles along the way,
instances of terrorists or other insurgent types who have
occasional success.
Franks said there
is little the U.S. government or military can do to prevent each
specific instance of violence in Iraq, but what the U.S. can do is
stay in the country and continue to provide support until the
Iraqis develop the ability to take care of themselves.
"Ultimately, it's
going to be the Iraqis, it's going to be the Afghans that are going
to make that difference," Franks said.
Franks said
American military levels will be reduced over time, but he doesn't
have a guess how long that process will take.
"What we're
looking for is to see a trend in that direction without
specifically deciding we'll be at X-thousand people at a particular
point," he said. "If you look at Europe, we've been in Europe a
long, long time. If you look at Korea, we've been in Korea a long
time. But I'd like to think we'll get to the point where we're
there as invited guests and friends upon whom the Iraqis rely much
less than they rely on us today."
Franks said the
issue in Iraq is getting the various sects - Sunni, Shia and Kurds
- to get along better. He believes progress is being made every day
that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government responds to the
needs of the Iraqi people.
While security
issues are important, Franks said governance and economic
conditions are equally important to the lives of average Iraqis -
as they are to most Americans.
"I think everyday
that we see the Maliki government responding to the needs of the
Iraqi people is a positive way," he said. "That doesn't say they're
doing everything they need to do, just as we would do it. That's
not the case. They're stumbling as they move forward, but there are
not so many people in this country, I think, who would say they are
not making progress. In my view they are making
progress."
Franks
acknowledges mistakes were made following the invasion that in
hindsight, knowing everything he knows today, he probably would
have wanted done differently.
Looking back now,
Franks said the Americans probably should have immediately hired
the Iraqi army instead of allowing them to disband and go
home.
Franks also said
"the bar was probably drawn a little too high" when it came to
"de-Baathification," or rooting out members of the Baath party,
because it resulted in the loss of many middle-class bureaucrats in
Iraq who joined the party for pure survival rather than sharing
Sadaam Hussein's ideology.
"An awful lot of
the middle class in Iraq were Baathists so if you're not real
careful, what you do is remove the middle class from an evolving
effort to build and strengthen governance," Franks
said.
While Franks
wishes those two things had been handled differently, he's not
about to second guess decisions made after he retired in 2003. In
fact, retired military officers who make statements second-guessing
decisions made by current officers do not have Franks'
respect.
"Any time you're
away from something as complicated as the Iraq issue or Afghanistan
or the global war on terror for six months or a year, factually,
you do not know enough to be able to grade the paper of those who
have come along behind you," he said. "In my view, it's pretty
arrogant to say well, 'Boy, they're screwing it up. By golly, I
could do better.'"
When it comes to
Afghanistan and capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, Franks said
it won't happen in that country. He believes bin Laden and much of
the al-Qaeda leadership are holed up in an ungoverned portion of
Pakistan.
Franks believes
Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, is a "great friend" of the
United States and is doing every thing he can do to assist the
effort to hunt terrorists. But there are portions of Pakistan that
have been ungoverned since Pakistan was formed in the late
1940s.
"There are some
outlaw areas inside Pakistan that have yet to be controlled by
anyone, and I think most in the intelligence community believe
that's where the core of al-Qaeda leadership is," he
said.
When bin-Laden is
finally dealt with, Franks said it won't be something broadcast
live on television or done with tanks and large formations of
soldiers walking in straight lines. It will be done stealthily, and
with the cooperation of the Pakistani government.
Franks said
Pakistan is helping as much as it can though he wishes they could
be more helpful. But he said you have to be careful when a country
has nuclear weapons and big chunks of its society are "right at the
edge of being radical" that you don't cause a basically friendly
government to be overthrown.
"I believe the
Pakistanis are being helpful. I believe they will be even more
helpful over time, unless we mess it up by demanding things that
they simply cannot yet deliver," he said.
Concerning the
U.S. presidential contest, Franks says he has not endorsed any
candidate, but he hopes all candidates take a moment to focus on
what's important for the country and not engage in as much
vitriolic behavior, or "foolishness" as he calls it, on the
campaign trail.
And Franks has no
political aspirations for himself in the future.
"I believe you
have to have certain characteristics to be a politician and I don't
possess those characteristics," he said. "Politics is fascinating,
and it's very much a part of American life. There are people very
good at it, and I'm not one of them."
Contact Scott Aust
at 394-8415, or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com
Gen. Tommy
Franks' biography
Gen. Tommy Franks,
an Oklahoma and Texas native, joined the United States Army in
1967, graduated from the Artillery Officer Candidate School and was
commissioned a second lieutenant before being sent to Viet Nam,
where he earned six awards for valor and three Purple
Hearts.
In June 2000, he
was promoted to four-star general and assigned as
Commander-in-Chief, United States Central Command and led coalition
forces in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation
Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.
Franks has earned
five Distinguished Service Medals, four Legions of Merit, four
Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, in addition to numerous
foreign awards. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of
the British Empire (KBE) by order of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
on May 25, 2004. And President George W. Bush awarded him the
nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom
on Dec. 14, 2004.
He earned a
bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of
Texas-Arlington, and a master's degree in public administration
from Shippensburg University. He is also a graduate of the Armed
Forces Staff College and the Army War College.
Since his
retirement from the military in 2003, Gen. Franks has traveled the
world speaking on leadership, character and the value of
democracy.
Source:
tommyfranks.com
If you
go
What: John T.
Vucurevich Foundation speaker Gen. Tommy Franks
When: 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15
Where: Rushmore
Plaza Civic Center Theatre
Cost: Tickets for
Franks' Rapid City talk cost $3 for students with identification,
$7 for everyone else. Tickets are available by calling
1-800-GOT-MINE or 394-4111; or online at
www.gotmine.com
