Welcome to the ROA Deployment Blog.
A Message from ROA’s Executive Director:On July 12, 2007 President Groskreutz and I had the opportunity to participate in a White House teleconference conducted by Press Secretary Tony Snow. The conference provided an opportunity for Mr. Snow to reinforce the President’s message about the preliminary report of Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus on the progress being made in Iraq since the “surge” of additional forces earlier this year.
The essence of Mr. Snow’s message was that there had been considerable progress on “security issues,” but less than stellar progress on the “Iraqi political issues.” However, Mr. Snow stressed his belief that the political benchmarks were “… a lagging indicator of success,” and his confidence that substantial progress could be expected by the time of the next report – due just about the time you read this column.
In response to a number of questions, Mr. Snow repeatedly stated that he believed the country does not fully understand the critical nature of the threat in Iraq, and that the press has failed to report many of the positive things that have been happening – preferring instead to focus almost exclusively on American and civilian casualties. The press secretary asked that all those involved in the call use their best efforts to enable the men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan to come forward with their own accounts of what they saw and experienced in combat, their own assessments of the nature of the threats facing our Nation, and their view on the need for our presence in these theaters of war.
As I have written many times before, ROA’s core mission is education. One of ROA’s early National Presidents said many years ago in a speech: “No group … in the country so fully realize the gravity of the situation, the importance of National Defense and what it requires, as the Reserve Officers. (T)hey … are best fitted to present this data to the people…and to bring before Congress the information they desire …to enable them to pass intelligently on the financial and other questions involved.”
It remains so today. Members of ROA have a truly unique insight into the “ground truth” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sharing those insights with the American people and with our governmental leaders will help everyone to better understand the complex situation in which we find ourselves.
- Do we have vital national interests in Iraq? Afghanistan?
- Is the “surge” of forces working?
- Are there positive (or negative) things happening that the press fails to report?
Please let us know your thoughts. Help ROA to accomplish its historic mission to inform and educate our key constituencies – Congress, the Executive branch, our fellow citizens and ourselves – on the most pressing of today’s national security issues.
As an alternative to this blog, you may send them to me by mail or e-mail. My addresses are:
LtGen Dennis McCarthy USMC (Ret)
Reserve Officers Association of the United States
One Constitution Ave. NE
Washington DC 20002
dmccarthy@roa.org
ROA will do several things with the submissions we receive. We will publish a report outlining the range of responses, highlighting key trends, and quoting from your submissions. (If you withhold permission to quote you by name, we will honor that direction and your submission will remain anonymous.) ROA will also send this report to the White House, DOD and the Congress.