Twenty Years On, Blount, Koppel Share Reflections on Legacy of Operation Iraqi Freedom During Dale Lecture Event at USM

Tue, 04/18/2023 - 10:42am | By: David Tisdale

Two important figures in America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq – the general who led the U.S. Army 3^rd Division that captured its capital, Bagdad, and an iconic network television journalist who joined him and his troops as an embedded war reporter – reunited April 13 at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to discuss the legacy of that fateful and controversial military action for the 2023 Lt. Col. John H. Dale Sr. Distinguished Lecture in International Security and Global Policy, hosted by USM’s Dale Center for the Study of War & Society.

Ted Koppel, the acclaimed former anchor for ABC-TV’s Nightline program, and Gen. Buford “Buff” Blount reflected on the 20th anniversary of their time together during Operation Iraqi Freedom, with Dale Center Co-Director Dr. Heather Stur serving as moderator.

Gen. Blount and Koppel answered a variety of topical questions posed by Dr. Stur, including about the leadup to the invasion; the nature of the relationship between the two; the dynamics of both combat and reportage from a military operation taking place in desert terrain; and lessons learned from their experiences, among other inquiries. Dr. Stur’s latest book project recounts the exploits of Gen. Blount and the men and women he led on that mission - 21 Days to Baghdad: General Buford Blount and the 3rd Infantry Division in the Iraq War (Osprey Publishing) - which is set for release this summer.

Gen. Blount and Koppel discussed the decision to allow an embedded news team, led by Koppel, to cover the American military’s movement into Iraq live; Blount said he was supportive of the move, explaining “We wanted for the nation, the world to see the good news side [of the mission], to see the good things our men and women were doing for our country [and help the Iraqi people].” 

The arrangement came with a mutual understanding that Koppel and his media team be constantly mindful not to give away details the enemy could access for their advantage; “I knew he (Koppel) was a professional, so we had trust,” Gen. Blount said of the famed journalist.

And Gen. Blount was not concerned about Koppel and his crew giving away critical information about American troop locations and activities, saying it was in their own best interest not to, “Because if we got shot at, then they would get shot at,” Gen. Blount laughed.

Enemy resistance, weather conditions, and the potential threat of a chemical weapons attack on American troops shrouded the division’s advance from their position in Kuwait into Iraq, including an epic sandstorm that severely inhibited military and media operations, both recalled.

For Koppel, the live coverage for television audiences was in sharp contrast to the days when, during the Vietnam conflict, it would take days for 16-millimeter film of the fighting to be shipped across the Atlantic and enroute to network headquarters in New York for final broadcast, risking timeliness of the story in the competition with other media outlets and in keeping the American public informed on a timely basis.

Noting he had been critical of the decision to invade Iraq even before he was picked to provide embedded coverage, Koppel recounted he doubted claims made that Saddam Hussein had been part of the 9/11 attack or that he possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD); ultimately, no WMD were found in Iraq. He took pains to emphasize to the audience, which included current and retired military personnel, that his criticism of Operation Iraqi Freedom was then and is now not of the U.S. military, but of the mostly civilian command authority that sent it into combat based on faulty intelligence.

Koppel called for more debate by representatives in the U.S. Congress before any military action is taken in the future, noting a declaration of war by Congress has not been made since World War II, though the U.S. has engaged in multiple military missions since then.

“The military did what it was supposed to do, and it performed brilliantly, but was sent on a mission that shouldn’t have been made,” as the U.S. went from being what was originally planned as a liberator of the country from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to a yearslong occupier that often led to disastrous results.

“It was never an issue debated in the halls of Congress,” Koppel said, emphasizing that engaged debate about sending soldiers into combat should be a standard course of action for a legitimate democracy. “It was just done, and the military had to deal with the consequences,” further lamenting the thousands of deaths and permanent disabilities and trauma suffered by its soldiers, along with the enormous financial cost. “It turned out to be a war that didn’t have to be fought.”

Koppel praised Gen. Blount as the “Mississippi gentleman he has always been” and recalled the “extraordinary access” given to him and his media crew to intelligence briefings, as well as to Blount and his troops for interviews throughout the mission. Koppel made clear, however, that he and his team insisted they would report the good and the bad of the mission, the successes, and the failures. “We (media team) weren’t a PR (public relations) arm of the U.S. military,” he said.

Koppel also praised the U.S. military for extraordinary performance in any operation they undertook and emphasized its inclusion of an “after action report” that examines the successes and failures of any mission, a practice he said that any civilian organization or businesses should consider.

Blount concluded by praising the work of his troops in the mission and thanked Dr. Stur for her upcoming book that he believes will help tell the real story of the 3^rd Infantry Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He expressed dismay that the overall mission turned into an occupation of Iraq, saying a preferable outcome would have been only a few months of military engagement and then have a select few troops and civilian personnel remain to help with recovery operations, such as humanitarian aid and assisting in getting public services and businesses back online.

“None of them ever let me down, never said they were too tired to go on, they were always ready to go,” he said of his troops. “I felt like their accomplishments were overshadowed by the insurgency [and prolonged occupation of Iraq], and never fully recognized.”

The Lt. Col. John H. Dale Distinguished Lecture in International Security and Global Policy lecture series is presented by The University of Southern Mississippi's Dale Center for the Study of War & Society. The lecture series honors the late Lt. Col. John H. Dale, a decorated military veteran of World War II and the Korean War, who earned his master's degree from USM and was a professor of military studies for the University's Reserve Officer Training Program. The lecture series is made possible by the generous support of Lt. Col. Dale's daughter, Dr. Beverly Dale. 

Previous Lt. Col. John H. Dale Lecture presenters include Dan Rather, former anchor of the CBS Evening News (2019); General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army, Retired (2017); Dr. Robert M. Gates, Former Secretary of Defense, CIA Director (2015); Dr. Madeleine Albright, Former Secretary of State (2010); and Sen. Wyche Fowler, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2008).

For information about the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society, please visit their website.