Phase Four: Applying History's Successful Nation Building Lessons in Iraq

摘要

Shock and Awe, the term used to describe our invasion of Iraq, was the most successful application of US combat power to date. While it was a great accomplishment it also presented U.S. leadership with a tremendous challenge in its preparations for and execution of a transition plan. The transition from what is typically described as phase three (combat) operations to phase four (post conflict) operations is always difficult. Recent operations in Iraq have highlighted the challenges in planning and executing the previously described transition. When the challenges mentioned above are coupled with an extremely hostile environment it only exacerbates the difficulty of the transition. Historically, Germany, Japan and Post Civil War America are examples of successful nation building efforts. Post conflict operations are typically seen as a Department of State (DoS) function but require Department of Defense (DoD) capabilities; this gap routinely tends to be unbridgeable. In order to bride this gap DoS and DoD must agree on the importance of the Interagency process to post conflict operations and institutionalize the interwoven tasks into their respective cultures. This paper examines the challenges faced by the DoS and DoD in applying history's lessons to our current efforts in Iraq.