Posted by: McQ on Sunday, March 11, 2007 In another in a long line of "Iraq is like Vietnam" comparisons, The Guardian says the US Army is "lagging behind Iraq's insurgents tactically". That was apparently based on a statement by a "senior officer" who said the enemy they faced was "smart, agile and cunning". It's also utter rubbish. However, having laid out their premise that we lag behind the insurgents, the "myth" is then, predictably, trotted out once more: In Vietnam, the US was eventually defeated by a well-armed, closely directed and highly militarised society that had tanks, armoured vehicles and sources of both military production and outside procurement.A) We weren't 'defeated' by that society. In fact, "we" weren't even there. Claiming that to be so is a bit like saying a football team which scored after it's opposition had already left the field, won the game. The "society" that eventually defeated the ARVN did so more than two years and one defeat (they got stuffed, badly, the first time they tried) after we'd left. They only succeeded when the Congress of the US refused to resupply the RVN's military or support them with US air power. B) The insurgency, per se, was not a significant factor in the final loss of the RVN. It was the regular North Vietnamese Army which took the south. C) They had "tanks, armoured vehicles and sources of both military production and outside procurement" because they were a proxy for China and the USSR for heaven sake, both of whom gave them what they needed to eventually defeat the RVN. What is more devastating now is that the world's only superpower is in danger of being driven back by a few tens of thousands of lightly armed irregulars, who have developed tactics capable of destroying multimillion-dollar vehicles and aircraft.Driven back where? If talking about Iraq, we're actually expanding our presence ala the surge. And it appears we're actually turning the tide in al Anbar. If talking about Afghanistan, we're participating in an offensive right now, for heaven sake! Then this: Other officers said coalition rules of engagement were being used against the forces fighting the insurgency. 'They know when we can and cannot shoot, and use that against us,' said one officer, reflecting the comments of US soldiers in the field. But that's changing. In fact part of it has already changed. We've seen reports that US soldiers are now searching mosques, something the ROE wouldn't allow previously. So this is old news. And it is here that one begins to understand the intent of this article. It is a 'gloom and doom' article, written specifically to convey those feelings. 'Iraq and Afghanistan are sucking up resources at a faster rate than we planned for,' one three-star general said. 'America's warriors need the latest technology to defeat an enemy who is smart, agile and cunning - things we did not expect of the Soviets.'If a 3-star said that, then he's an idiot. The Soviets were a conventional force with a particular penchant for centralized control. Insurgents and insurgencies are, by design and definition, decentralized and able to operate much more independently and in small groups. There is no comparision. The defacto operational design of all insurgencies makes them more adaptable and flexible by default. And "the latest technology" is not the answer to defeating them as any officer worth his salt would know. Instead it is obviously an issue of tactics and strategy. It is also something to which we're right in the middle of adapting. Technology enhances both, but isn't a substitute for either. Even the most junior officer knows that. After reading to about there I said 'screw it'. Paul Beaver and Peter Beaumont, the authors, simply put some crap together - which makes little if any sense to anyone who knows a bit about history or the military - with the intent of purposely painting a "bleak" picture. In fact, they even use the word in the article. In reality it's a compilation of pure crap and is best characterized as "nonsense on a stick." Other than that, I loved it. |
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