Mr. Jay E. Hines is the former historian at US Central Command and in this interview he shares his visibility and analysis of the principal events, turning points and personalities related to the initial ground war phase and then as circumstances transitioned into stability and support operations, often from an historical perspective. Among his observations is that, "Most of the politicians and a lot of journalists are viewing this through the prism of the Vietnam War. So even though there are major differences between the two conflicts, that's still the way the media tends to portray it." What's more, Hines adds, not even he and his fellow historians are (and were) totally immune to such influences. "We tried, I think, in the history office of the headquarters to be as objective and nonpolitical as possible," he said, "even though ultimately you can't be totally free of politics." Among the high-ranking leaders Hines talks about include President George W. Bush, General Tommy Franks, General John Abizaid, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Michael DeLong and General George Casey, and he also offers a number of compares and contrasts with past conflicts from Somalia to World War II. Additionally, Hines points out the difficulties inherent in researching and ultimately producing a comprehensive historical account of wars such as this one in Iraq, especially given the combined/joint nature of the conflict - meaning that multiple services and coalition partners play key roles that must be considered - not to mention the fact that many crucial missions conducted by special operations forces are classified and will likely remain so for years, if not decades, to come.

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