<p>Listen to a conversation with Democratic Senator Jack Reed, USMA '71. Reed just returned from one of his numerous trips to Iraq and discusses the changing role of the American military in Iraq. Broadcast last night on Charlie Rose:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.charlierose.com/home%5B/url%5D">http://www.charlierose.com/home</a></p>
<p>"A leader on defense, education, and health care issues, Reed is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and a former Army Ranger. In 2006, Time magazine noted: "Reed is a serious, intellectually honest veteran and an expert on defense issues in the Senate."</p>
<p>After graduating from West Point and receiving an active duty commission in the United States Army, Reed attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he received a Masters of Public Policy. Reed, an Army Ranger and a paratrooper, served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an Infantry Platoon leader, a Company Commander, and a Battalion Staff Officer. He returned to West Point in 1978 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences. </p>
<p>Reed resigned from the Army as a Captain in 1979 and enrolled at Harvard Law School. In 1982, he graduated from Harvard and served a year as an associate with the Washington, DC law firm of Sutherland, Asbill, and Brennan. </p>
<p><a href="http://reed.senate.gov/biography/index.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://reed.senate.gov/biography/index.cfm</a></p>
<p>Thanks for posting this. It's a very interesting piece.</p>
<p>Senator Reed has traveled to Iraq ten times; more than the sum of Bush+Cheney+Rumsfeld+Rice Iraq photo-ops. Moreover, hes spending quality time with Petraeus and the other commanding generals. This is a lengthy interview, but the bottom line is that the fundamental mission of the US forces will change. Senator Reed points out that the purpose of the recent surge in American troops to ostensibly protect the Iraqi population, specifically the population of Baghdad, is misguided and futile. He goes on to state the mission should be:</p>
<ol>
<li>Counter terrorism in Iraq and throughout the world</li>
<li>Training Iraqi security forces</li>
<li>Protect American forces wherever they are</li>
</ol>
<p>Senator Reed also made some interesting predictions about the upcoming benchmarks.</p>
<p>It's refreshing to hear someone talk realistically, and not turn the discussion about drawing down the troops into an all or nothing proposition. I hope that the senator's views represent the generals views to some degree. It gives me hope that we may be able to bring many of our people home soon without abandoning the country completely and leaving the Iraqis without any help from us. He emphasized that we need a political, not military, solution at this point, and we need to help the Iraqis find that political solution. Troops for training their army and special ops for fighting terrorists would still be necessary, but the numbers needed for that would be reduced considerably.</p>