The first question Professor Michael Newton asked Gen. David H. Petraeus concerned what makes a good leader. Petraeus said big ideas — the focal point of most of his discussion about military structure and effectiveness Monday night.
Newton, a professor of the practice of law at the Vanderbilt Law School, asked Petraeus a total of eight questions, all submitted in some form by students or community members. Petraeus, in turn, came equipped with Power Point slides diagramming strategic initiatives and internal command structure.
The talk centered primarily around the shift in strategy and organization that followed Petraeus's promotion to Commander, U.S. Central Command in 2007. Citing graphs demonstrating the decline in average daily attacks from over 200 a day at the height of violence in Iraq in 2006 to under 20 per day in the past several months, the general argued that Iraq may be the most stable country in the Central Command now.
"There is still an unacceptable level (of deaths monthly) in Iraq, but the reduction has been so significant. Iraq has hope," Petraeus said.
Regarding Afghanistan, Petraeus emphasized security, as well as political and cultural infrastructure as the primary concerns.
"The challenge in Afghanistan (is not) the training of individual troops — these people have been fighting since they were born — it's the command," he said. "How do you produce a battalion commander? It takes 20 years for our forces, and you're also combating 70 or 80 percent illiteracy. You have police that can't read the laws they're enforcing."
In one of the two questions read verbatim, Petraeus was asked about one of the darker parts of the wars, the torture photos from Abu Ghraib.
"That memory is always there, it is never going away," Petraeus said of Abu Ghraib. "Every time something like that happens, you really suffer from it. So, you must live your values. I believe that, but if someone doesn't, then take the practical view that if you don't live your values, it will come back to bite you."
Petraeus spent approximately 15 to 20 minutes explaining the leadership infrastructure for the military and how the military has enacted what he termed the Anaconda Strategy — the comprehensive plan to win in Iraq.
According to Col. Bill Hickman, one of his assigned executive officers, Petraeus spends 22 to 27 days of the month outside Tampa, where U.S. Central Command is based. The general visits the Middle East at least a couple times a month, and then speaks in settings like universities or organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations. In recent months, Petraeus has spoken at Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Yale and will speak at Texas A&M and Princeton later this month.
Prior to the event, Petraeus spoke with local media, addressing questions ranging from Yemen to plans for Iraq following the March 7 parliamentary elections. He addressed military strain twice, speaking on mental health at Ft. Campbell and logistical strain in Haiti.
"We had adequate capacity, in fact, to help in Haiti. I think that was demonstrated; there was a brigade in the 87th Airborne Division that is literally the Global Reponse Force element. It was ready, it deployed on short notice," Petraeus said.
"We were even able, frankly, to continue what is a very substantial deployment of additional forces and rotational forces ongoing in Afghanistan and Iraq that uses the vast majority of our wide-body aircraft, in particular, from the U.S. Air Force fleet. Nonetheless, we were able to, as a military, to provide the air-lift, sea-lift and other assets that were necessary to assist with the efforts with Haiti."
