Emma Sky: Difference between revisions
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'''Emma Sky''' is a British cross-cultural specialist, trained in Oriental Studies and coming from a | '''Emma Sky''' is a British cross-cultural specialist, trained in Oriental Studies and coming from a Pacifism|pacifist tradition, who has become a valued adviser to U.S. generals in Iraq. When the Iraq War broke out, which she opposed, she volunteered for a Foreign and Commonwealth Office team that would administer post-invasion Iraq, and let Iraqis know many Europeans opposed the war. <ref name=TimesUK2009-04-13>{{citation | ||
| date = 13 April 2009 | | date = 13 April 2009 | ||
| title = Anti-war Briton Emma Sky is helping to reshape Iraq | | title = Anti-war Briton Emma Sky is helping to reshape Iraq | ||
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| journal = New York Times}}</ref></blockquote> | | journal = New York Times}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
She has become a principal adviser to GEN | She has become a principal adviser to GEN Ray Odierno, now the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and rose with him from less senior commands, partially because she would give him a totally different perspective than would his conventional staff. Odierno, who had been thought to be overly harsh on civilians as a tactical commander, said <blockquote>Emma was able to give me a completely different perspective: it was from an Iraqi viewpoint...We didn’t have a lot of experience in doing these things, so someone with her background and knowledge was able to assist us as to how we could best help civilians.<ref name=NYT2009-11-20 /></blockquote> | ||
Sky came to more widespread attention as a result on | Sky came to more widespread attention as a result on Thomas Ricks' book on the Iraq War, Surge|"Surge" in Iraq and the rethinking involved. <ref name=Ricks-Gamble>{{citation | ||
| title = THE GAMBLE: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 | | title = THE GAMBLE: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 | ||
| author = | | author = Thomas Ricks | ||
| publisher = Penguin | year = 2009 | isbn = 987-1594201974}}</ref> The regional commander, GEN | | publisher = Penguin | year = 2009 | isbn = 987-1594201974}}</ref> The regional commander, GEN David Petraeus, also had acquired a nonmilitary adviser, Sadi Othman, less formally trained than Sky, but the idea of an alternate view had been embraced. Petraeus, himself with a doctorate in international relations, has used planning groups containing both military officers with social science backgrounds and pure social scientists, as has GEN Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan War (2001-2021)|Afghanistan. | ||
Some have compared her to | Some have compared her to Gertrude Bell; she first heard the comparison from Iraqis in Kirkuk. She observed that she and Bell came from different generations. “But I understand her love of the place. When anyone makes this comparison, I always think she ends up a spinster in Baghdad committing suicide.”<ref name=TimesUK2009-04-13 /> | ||
It has occasionally been suggested, in jest, that the best advice comes from advisers at different altitudes. Sky is 5'4" while Odierno is a massive 6'5"; Petraeus is relatively small but Othman is 6' 7" and the first Jordanian to dunk a basketball in a college game. | It has occasionally been suggested, in jest, that the best advice comes from advisers at different altitudes. Sky is 5'4" while Odierno is a massive 6'5"; Petraeus is relatively small but Othman is 6' 7" and the first Jordanian to dunk a basketball in a college game. |
Latest revision as of 03:10, 21 March 2024
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She has become a principal adviser to GEN Ray Odierno, now the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and rose with him from less senior commands, partially because she would give him a totally different perspective than would his conventional staff. Odierno, who had been thought to be overly harsh on civilians as a tactical commander, said
Sky came to more widespread attention as a result on Thomas Ricks' book on the Iraq War, Surge|"Surge" in Iraq and the rethinking involved. [3] The regional commander, GEN David Petraeus, also had acquired a nonmilitary adviser, Sadi Othman, less formally trained than Sky, but the idea of an alternate view had been embraced. Petraeus, himself with a doctorate in international relations, has used planning groups containing both military officers with social science backgrounds and pure social scientists, as has GEN Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan War (2001-2021)|Afghanistan. Some have compared her to Gertrude Bell; she first heard the comparison from Iraqis in Kirkuk. She observed that she and Bell came from different generations. “But I understand her love of the place. When anyone makes this comparison, I always think she ends up a spinster in Baghdad committing suicide.”[1] It has occasionally been suggested, in jest, that the best advice comes from advisers at different altitudes. Sky is 5'4" while Odierno is a massive 6'5"; Petraeus is relatively small but Othman is 6' 7" and the first Jordanian to dunk a basketball in a college game. References
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