U.S. ‘in trouble’ in Iraq, retired general asserts

Barry McCaffrey, retired Army general and one-time White House drug czar, came to Kansas City on Tuesday to deliver a speech about leadership. McCaffrey was one of the top commanders in the Army during the first Gulf War. Now he teaches at West Point and is chairman of HNTB Federal Services and a member of the HNTB Companies board of directors. The architectural and engineering firm has headquarters in Kansas City.

What sort of evolution do you see to the war in Iraq?

We’re in trouble.

The American people walked away from the war. I don’t think they’re coming back. Iraq’s neighbors are bearing no good will toward a favorable outcome in Iraq.

The Iraqi government in power is dysfunctional. There is essentially no province in Iraq where the central government holds sway. It’s not true in the Kurdish areas. … It’s not true in Basra, where there’s a struggle for power among the Shiites, it’s essentially not true in any part of the country.


But collectively the American people have said that the conduct of the war has been so incompetent that we’ve come to disbelieve the administration has the ability to carry this off.

The next president, unless the situation in Iraq is dramatically turned around, is pulling the plug.

What’s your read of the case of Pat Tillman, the pro football player whose friendly-fire death in Afghanistan was first made to look like the result of enemy combat?

There was sadly, a probably criminal cover-up of evidence. …

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