Another fast-rising general whose tactics may figure large in Iraq, Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, is also a member of the Odierno school of “kinetics,“or firepower. Thurman last directed Operation Forward Together, the Army’s failed attempt to pacify Baghdad by redeploying about 8,000 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi soldiers to the capital. Back in September, Thurman was optimistic about success. “Over the past couple of months, we’re seeing a reduction in sectarian violence in Baghdad,” Thurman said then. But by late October, after weeks of spouting statistics about lowered murder rates, the multinational forces spoksman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, conceded that the operation “has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence.” Thurman is slated to get his third star and take over command of V Corps, which is based in Germany but is likely to be rotated back into Iraq eventually.
