A top Australian General will share his knowledge about war and the military when UQ’s School of Political Science and International Studies hosts the public lecture “What we can learn from Iraq” this month.
Major General Jim Molan was deployed to Iraq for a year in 2004. It was a time of intense and controversial combat with major assaults on Fallujah, Najaf and Mosul.
Through this he controlled the operations of 300,000 coalition troops, worked to maintain oil and electricity supplies, rail infrastructure and managed the first public elections in Iraq.
As US troops begin their long-awaited withdrawal from the country, Major General Molan is uniquely placed to give his perspective on modern warfare.
“The lessons from this war do not depend on individual views of whether Iraq was ‘right’,” he said.
“These lessons go to whether you have an effective defence force that can offer to government a full range of security options that are needed now and will be needed in the future, limited only by resources.
“Before anything else, militaries must still be able to fight, governments must understand that early effective intervention is often best, and that wars must be adequately resourced.”
Major General Molan retired from the Australian army in 2008 after 40 years service.
An infantryman, an Indonesian speaker, a helicopter pilot, commander of the Australian Defence Colleges, with service in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Germany and the US, and commander of the evacuation force from the Solomon Islands in 2000, he had the necessary background for his posting to Iraq.
As acknowledgement of his command and leadership in action, Major General Molan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Australian Government and the Legion of Merit by the Government of the United States.
Major General Molan is a graduate of The University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales.
In August 2008, his bestselling book Running the War in Iraq was published.
Major General Molan’s public lecture will be held in the Conference Room (Level 1) of the Duhig Building (2), Campbell Drive, St Lucia campus on July 28 from 4-5.30pm.
Media: Gillian Ievers at the School of Political Science and International Studies (07 3365 1524 or g.ievers@uq.edu.au)
