Gen. Petraeus Speaks on Lawyers and Leadership

Former CIA head joined Dean Rasmussen for lunchtime talk

By Lori Craig

Gen. David Petraeus spoke about the role of lawyers in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, and related his method for effecting organizational change, during a talk at USC Gould March 26.

Gen David Petraeus, left, with USC Gould Dean Robert K. Rasmussen

Petraeus, Judge Widney Professor at USC, joined Dean Robert K. Rasmussen for a “Conversations with the Dean” event that touched on his 37-year Army career, including his command of American and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, his time as director of the CIA, and his current role as chairman of the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. KKR Global Institute.

More than 100 law students attended the event, including military veterans Trey Chiriboga ’15, Christopher Jew ’14 and Keith Williams ’14 who, along with a USC undergraduate veteran, received handshakes and personal thanks from Petraeus.

“It is a fact that is well-known: You can never have enough lawyers,” Petraeus said. “I mean that.”

As commander of about 25,000 American troops and, eventually, tens of thousands of Iraqis, Petraeus said he “brought probably the biggest [legal] team with me…. Lawyers are just very useful human beings.”

He recounted several examples of work done by lawyers in Iraq, including the essential task of drafting the Rules of Engagement that govern what is and is not legal in a war zone, from how detainees are treated to what targets are off-limits. He also mentioned a time when he had a lawyer work through the night to draft a declaration re-opening the border with Syria, taking into account international sanctions.

Trey Chiriboga '15, far left, and other USC students who are military veterans receive handshakes and thanks from Gen. Petraeus.

“That whole long story is about something that I did routinely, which is to have a thorny problem, and turn it over to lawyers,” Petraeus said, noting that lawyers were involved in everything from staffing and planning to operations.

Responding to a question from Dean Rasmussen about his noted leadership skills, Petraeus also outlined his steps to initiating change, whether in a corporate setting or a military one, drawing examples from his experiences in the Middle East.

“You have to get the big ideas right,” Petraeus said. If you don’t, “everything else is going to be for naught.

“So with respect, for example, to the surge in Iraq, the surge that mattered most was the surge of ideas. It was to focus on the security of the people first and foremost, and in recognition of that, … I had a big idea: secure the people by living with the people.”

Another big idea he wanted to implement was reconciliation.

“You can’t kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency,” he said, adding that the military needed to work closely with the Iraqi people.

“Then, of course, you have to communicate the big ideas throughout the breadth and depth of your organization. And that takes every form possible,” Petraeus said. “In Iraq, I actually sent out a letter first day on command; I gave a change of command speech; I gathered the commanders together; I actually changed the mission statement and I changed the base operation plan the first week. I just did it.”

Next, a leader has to oversee the implementation of the stated goals, learn from them and continually improve on them.

“You have to capture lessons to determine how the big ideas need to be refined and updated,” Petraeus said. “We arguably changed the Army … changed the big ideas there, we changed the leader development, changed how units are trained.”

After answering questions from Dean Rasmussen, Petraeus spent about 40 minutes responding to questions from the student audience.