NATO Chief Denies Quotes in Woodward Book
Jim Jones, the four-star Marine general who heads NATO, denies a quote in Bob Woodward's latest book that he called the Iraq war a "debacle."
"That is a much stronger term than I would use," Jones told the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington today.
Jones came to discuss Afghanistan, where NATO has assumed the baton from the U.S.-led coalition. But it was inevitable that the tall and urbane general would be asked about the scathing alleged comments quoted in Woodward's State of Denial, including his feeling that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been "emasculated" by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Woodward's quotes came from remarks Jones made to fellow Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who was visiting Jones in Stuttgart, Germany, last September on the eve of his ascension to the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Jones said he and Pace were "just friends talking."
He added that if he had read Woodward's rendition of the conversation, which Jones recounted to him when the reporter had dinner with him in December 2005 in Brussels, "I probably would have suggested that the tone was a little more critical than I intended it to be." Asked for his current view on Iraq, he said, "I'm personally committed to the idea that we have got to be successful in Iraq. The strategic consequences of failure would be enormous."
Regarding Jones's reported comment that Rumsfeld had emasculated the chiefs of the four armed services, the former Marine commandant implied that the problem lay more in the law than in the personality of Rumsfeld. He said that he was on record as supporting revision of the Goldwater-Nichols Act so that the chairman and Joint Chiefs would be placed into the operational chain of command, which now runs from the president to the secretary of defense to the four-star combatant commands.
By law, the service chiefs' role is primarily advisory and to prepare, train, and equip the forces for use by the combatant commands. In yet another attempt to get Jones to state publicly whether he is critical of Rumsfeld, the general was asked if he agreed with the retired generals who have called for the secretary of defense's resignation in the past year.
"I do not associate myself with the 'revolt of the officers,'" Jones said. "It is the general officers' obligation to let their views be known, and there are ways to do that." Jones added that he will not be denouncing Rumsfeld publicly once he retires.
Jones did use the occasion to call for more attention to Afghanistan and particularly to formation of a "successful campaign strategy on the war on drugs in Afghanistan," where opium cultivation has exploded. "We're losing ground, and it bothers me," he said. Some 9,000 NATO troops have recently moved into the south of Afghanistan, where the Taliban and drug lords have their stronghold. No permanent troops were stationed there before. NATO recently concluded "Operation Medusa" against the Taliban stronghold, which Jones called NATO's "first real test of ground combat resolve since World War II." He declared the operation a success and says NATO's current troop strength in Afghanistan "is adequate for the mission."
While the NATO commander may be satisfied with the number of troops in Afghanistan, he has his work cut out for him in negotiating away some of the 50 restrictions or "caveats" that some NATO countries have placed on how their troops can be used. Some can't go after the Taliban or al Qaeda—they can only react once attacked; a few of the troops are not allowed to fight at night; others must stay in one geographical region. But Jones is primarily interested in forcing a new look at the overall strategy, not just the military operation. "The real challenge for the mission is how well the reconstruction and the international aid mission is focused," he said, particularly on counternarcotics efforts and judicial and police reform.