{"id":31682,"date":"2023-02-08T19:26:44","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/02\/08\/corps-dramatic-changes-require-discourse-not-information-operations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:50:11","slug":"corps-dramatic-changes-require-discourse-not-information-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/2023\/02\/08\/corps-dramatic-changes-require-discourse-not-information-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Corps\u2019 dramatic changes require discourse, not information operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell <\/a>gave an impassioned United Nations speech outlining the evidence of Iraq\u2019s development and possession of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The storm clouds of war were gathering. Also that month, all Marine Corps Training and Education Command<\/a> officers were assembled in the Quantico, Virginia, \u00adtheater. As a young captain, we were there to listen to a different speech, one by a \u00adrecently retired general we \u00adrevered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Tony Zinni said he initially had planned to talk about leadership training and education. But upon further consideration, he decided to refocus his remarks to \u201cThe duty of a retired general.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He proceeded to outline his growing alarm at the haste that the U.S. was \u00adrushing to war with Iraq.<\/a> He first \u00adexpressed concerns about Powell\u2019s evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He spelled out the problems with Central Command\u2019s planning efforts that had produced an invasion plan with too few ground force formations. He then forecast a lengthy stability operation that would result in years of wasted U.S. time, treasure and lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were nonplussed. Some agreed with his assessment. We also knew that as \u00adCentral Command\u2019s most recent former commander, Zinni possessed the experience and credibility to make the assertions he did. To be fair, however, we were young officers stuck in training and Quantico assignments, angry that we were missing the chance to march into Iraq. We also were active-duty Marines, obligated to follow the \u00adorders of our commander-in-chief. We were not disposed to publicly agree with Zinni\u2019s cautions about Operation Iraqi Freedom.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all eventually got our wish and joined the war we thought we were going to miss. We learned over the next 20 years, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that the retired general was right: Poor operational and strategic decisions made in haste and hubris always created tactical problems for us to solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\t