Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently
deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically
idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned Non-Commissioned
Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally, I am not just
a soldier with a
muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs and as such, it is my job
to be aware of all the events occurring in this country and specifically
in my
region.
I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of reasons.
Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.
When we were preparing to deploy, I told my young soldiers to beware of
the "political solution." Just when you think you have the situation
on the
ground in hand, someone will come along with a political directive that
throws you off the tracks.
I believe that we could have won this un-Constitutional invasion of Iraq
and possibly pulled off the even more un-Constitutional occupation and subjugation
of this sovereign nation. It might have even been possible to foist democracy
on these people who seem to have no desire, understanding or respect for
such an institution. True, the possibility of pulling all this off was a
long shot and would have required several hundred billion dollars and even
more casualties than we've seen to date, but again it would have been possible,
not realistic or necessary, but possible.
Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.
First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because
of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label
the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as "terrorists,
criminals and dead-enders."
This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill
X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished,
everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at
our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting
the
guerillas.
The idea behind fighting a guerilla army is not to destroy its every man
(an impossibility since he hides himself by day amongst the populace). Rather
the idea in guerilla warfare is to erode or destroy his base of support.
So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two
more rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for killing
him are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that create casualties
among the innocent populace, you raise the support for the guerillas and
undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound precision bomb has a casualty-producing
radius of 400 meters minimum; do the math.)
Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed, again
by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy
idea that the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who
would line the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in
the street and
be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually been support
and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our regular military
forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently hostile.
Attempts to correct the thinking in this regard are in vain; it is not politically
correct to point out the fact that the locals are not only disliking us
more and more, they are growing increasingly upset and often overtly hostile.
Instead of addressing the reasons why the locals are becoming angry and
discontented, we allow politicians in Washington DC to give us pat and convenient
reasons that are devoid of any semblance of reality.
We are told that the locals are not upset because we have a hostile, aggressive
and angry Army occupying their nation. We are told that they are not upset
at the police state we have created, or at the manner of picking their representatives
for them. Rather we are told, they are upset because of a handful of terrorists,
criminals and dead enders in their midst have made them upset, that and
of course the ever convenient straw man of "left wing media bias."
Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create
them. This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when
your tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas instead
of eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart
bomb" we kill many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger
in the Iraqi community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits
for the terrorists and less support for us.
We have fallen victim to the body count mentality all over again. We have
shown a willingness to inflict civilian casualties as a necessity of war
without realizing that these same casualties create waves of hatred against
us. These angry Iraqi citizens translate not only into more recruits for
the guerilla army but also into more support of the guerilla army.
Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours
and much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this place;
this costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or bring
them by truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those brought
by truck. This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies being interrupted.
Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes infinitely more expensive.
Conversely, the guerillas live on top of their supplies and are showing
every indication of developing a very sophisticated network for obtaining
them. Further, they have the advantage of the close support of family and
friends and traditional religious networks.
Fifth, we consistently underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. Many
military commanders have prepared to fight exactly the wrong war here.
Our tactics have not adjusted to the battlefield and we are falling behind.
Meanwhile the enemy updates his tactics and has shown a remarkable resiliency
and adaptability.
Because the current administration is more concerned with its image than
it is with reality, it prefers symbolism to substance: soldiers are dying
here and being maimed and crippled for life. It is tragic, indeed criminal
that our elected public servants would so willingly sacrifice our nation's
prestige and honor as well as the blood and treasure to pursue an agenda
that is ahistoric and un-Constitutional.
It is all the more ironic that this un-Constitutional mission is being performed
by citizen soldiers such as myself who swore an oath to uphold and defend
the Constitution of the United States, the same oath that the commander
in chief himself has sworn.
September 20, 2004
Al Lorentz
Al Lorentz <alorentz@truevine.net>
is former state chairman of the Constitution Party of Texas and is a reservist
currently serving with the US Army in Iraq.
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