The Objective - Iraq

This is the next piece in my look at our war strategy in Iraq.

What is our objective in Iraq? It looks like we have a lot of them. The establishment of an Iraqi liberal democracy. Fighting a guerilla war. Establishing a viable Iraqi economy that is not based on oil socialism. Building/rebuilding infrastructure. Increasing Iraqi oil output. Building a strong Iraqi army. Establishing an honest police force. There are probably others I have left out. Mention them in the comments.

Since this is a discussion of politico/military strategy (all military effort is ultimately about politics since as Clauswitz points out - war is politics by other means - war is how you get a political decision when talking does not work) it is important to see the political dimension of our efforts.

The first phase of the Iraq war succeeded brilliantly. There the question of objective was clear and straight forward. End the rule of Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party. That was accomplished in three or four weeks. Brilliantly I might add. Mission accomplished.

The following phase was one where Iraq had no goverrnment and no army. Iraq was a political vacuum. Which made it an attractive target of political opportunists of all stripes. That phase ended with the votes on the Iraqi Constitution and elections for national offices.

So far so good. The question then becomes what mistake are we making now that we made in Vietnam?

The answer is pretty straight forward. We are not providing sufficient security to the Iraqi people. I think the reason is pretty fundamental. We are providing street by street security. The Iraqis are better equipped to handle that job. After all they will know better than any American the language and culture of Iraq.

This leads to look at two further problems. One is the sorry state of the Iraqi police forces. Corruption is endemic and some of the police seem much less than even handed. In some cases they are allied with the insurgents. In other cases they seem intent on settling old scores. This will have to be fixed.

The second problem is external security. The training of the Iraqi forces is coming along. However, external security is where American forces can be of the most benefit to the situation. We know that Syria is providing a rat line for entry of jihadis into Iraq. We know Iran is providing material support. This has to be choked off at the border to begin with. It also ultimately requires intense pressure military as well as financial on Iran. Senator McCain was asked about what American policy towards Iran should be. He has the right idea:

Another man — wondering if an attack on Iran is in the works — wanted to know when America is going to “send an air mail message to Tehran.”

McCain began his answer by changing the words to a popular Beach Boys song. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” he sang to the tune of Barbara Ann. “Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the President when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel.”

Our number one objective then has to be to secure Iraq. Everything else that has to be done in Iraq, such as improving the infrastructure, depends on security, both internal and external.

Strategy , Grand Strategy, and Tactics

While I was away (moving) the last week and a half, I have not been idle. I have been reading On Strategyby Colonel of Infantry Harry G. Summers, Jr. and Strategyby B. H. L. Hart. Two classics in the field of military strategy. Col. Summers' book deals with the Vietnam War and Basil Hart's book deals with a historical look at strategy with a major focus on WW1 and WW2.

What I want to do is to discuss the issues involved in relationship to the War in Iraq and our long war with militant Islam.

I get notification of comments at Classical Values and at Power and Control. So if you want to be assured that I see your comment and have an opportunity to reply please post at those blogs.

This discussion will be ongong (at least for a while) and will consist of a number of posts on the topic. The place to start is to get copies of the books and read them or at least use them to follow along with the discussion.

Cross Posted at Classical Values and at The Astute Bloggers

At War with Iran

Iran has promised to send waves of suicide bombers against Europe, America, and Israel if America goes to war with Iran.

So if we are going to war with Iran the first thing that needs to be done is preping the battlefield. You want to weaken the enemy position before attacking it. The easiest way to do that is with a spoiling attack. Such an attack is implimented against enemy formations that are massed for an attack. This disrupts the enemy while he is in the prepratory stage and as a result disorganizes or prevents anticipated attacks.

So far our spoiling attacks have been mainly focused on disrupting Iran's bank accounts and ability to disburse funds. They have been forced to work on a cash basis because their ability to use western banks to move their funds has been impeded.

I think Iran made a big mistake when it figured that America would limit itself to politics and military action, because Iran held the upper hand in the economic sphere due to its contribution to the world oil market.

And a second front in the Cash Flow Jihad is gaining as well. Law suits against terrorists. Especially terrorists supported by Iran.

...10 years after Vicki and Leonard Eisenfeld's son Matt, 25, a Yale graduate and rabbinical student, was murdered along with his fiancee Sara Duker in a No. 18 bus on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road, their dogged struggle against the Hamas terror group that killed him, and against the Iranian government that trained and financed those behind this and so many bombings, doesn't look quite so foolhardy anymore. There are even those who wonder whether it might help expedite regime change in Teheran.

"We had the choice of doing nothing or doing something," says Leonard simply, sitting alongside his wife on the sofa of their home in West Hartford, Connecticut. And that was no choice at all. So they set out to create what Leonard calls "a financial deterrent to terrorism."

It appears that Hamas has been funded and trained by Iran.

In a way this is a lot like Flight 93. Americans taking the initiative before government can get its act together. In fact it seems that at least one part of the executive branch is getting in the way. Here is a bit on a group of families having trouble with our State Department:

They've used some of that payment for charitable contributions and to fund various scholarship programs. But the three families' efforts to obtain what may now total up to $900 million in outstanding damages has been hampered in the US, again ironically, by the State Department.

Speaking by phone from Washington, Perles recounts that the legal team identified a US real-estate development firm with considerable assets that turned out to be wholly owned by the Iranian government. But the bid to seize its funds was stymied by a State Department contention that the company in question could not be held liable "since it was not managed on a daily basis by the government in Teheran," says Perles exasperatedly.

So they have taken the case to our European friends with better results:

RATHER THAN wait for the completion of the tortuous process, however, the lawyers have looked further afield of late, with remarkable success. To Europe, in fact, where Perles says the Iranian government has an estimated $50 to $80 billion in assets.

A few months back, they managed to get the Italian courts to "domesticate" the US court ruling in the case - "a procedure," says Perles, "under which the Italian court essentially adopted the judgment as its own."

Why would the Italians do that? "Because," says Perles, "they sometimes have cases of their own that need to be domesticated in the US."

Which might explain why Iran has withdrawn 700 tons of gold and $3o bn in cash from European banks. However, that is not all that is going on in the cash flow front.

And there is, appallingly, no shortage of other such potential cases. "Lots of US nationals have been killed by Iranian-backed terror," he notes grimly. "Iran is the epicenter of state terror."

In fact, he goes on, "We have a case that's been running for three or four years on behalf of 200 families of US marines killed in the 1983 Beirut bombings. We've had 800 witnesses testify to date. Iran has already lost in the battle over its liability. And we're talking seriously big numbers" in potential damages.

If the military families prevail against Iran that is going to seriously hurt Iran.

In any case I think what this is about is preliminary weaking of Iran and their proxies - either to make them say uncle or to weaken them preliminary to an attack.

The situation for Hamas re: cash is dire. Even money Iran has promised - and it is only $50 million, enough for 10 or 15 days of operation - can not be delivered due to the unwillingness of banks to handle Hamas money for fear of US action.

At some point the proxies may have to attack before their resources run out - opening themselves up to defeat in detail and thus being unable to mount spoiling attacks or counter attacks when we move on Iran.

Also see: Hamas has a banking crisis and The Gold War.

Technorati:
Follow the Money, Iran, Cash Flow Jihad, Iran War, Palestine, Hamas, Terrorism, Israel, Iranian Economy

HT: Charles and the LGF Readers and ploome hineni

Lessons of This War - New Every Day

The New Yorker has a really good article on how we are learning to fight this war in real time.

During the early weeks of the Iraq war, the television set in my office was tuned all day to CNN, with the sound muted. On the morning of April 3rd, as the Army and the Marines were closing in on Baghdad, I happened to look up at what appeared to be a disaster in the making. A small unit of American soldiers was walking along a street in Najaf when hundreds of Iraqis poured out of the buildings on either side. Fists waving, throats taut, they pressed in on the Americans, who glanced at one another in terror. I reached for the remote and turned up the sound. The Iraqis were shrieking, frantic with rage. From the way the lens was lurching, the cameraman seemed as frightened as the soldiers. This is it, I thought. A shot will come from somewhere, the Americans will open fire, and the world will witness the My Lai massacre of the Iraq war. At that moment, an American officer stepped through the crowd holding his rifle high over his head with the barrel pointed to the ground. Against the backdrop of the seething crowd, it was a striking gesture—almost Biblical. “Take a knee,” the officer said, impassive behind surfer sunglasses. The soldiers looked at him as if he were crazy. Then, one after another, swaying in their bulky body armor and gear, they knelt before the boiling crowd and pointed their guns at the ground. The Iraqis fell silent, and their anger subsided. The officer ordered his men to withdraw.

The author of this article, Dan Baum, tracks down the officer and asks him where he learned that technique. The answer: he improvised. Further on the article goes into how the net is helping keep the troops up to date.

In March of 2000, with the help of a Web-savvy West Point classmate and their own savings, they put up a site on the civilian Internet called Companycommand.com. It didn’t occur to them to ask the Army for permission or support. Companycommand was an affront to protocol. The Army way was to monitor and vet every posting to prevent secrets from being revealed, but Allen and Burgess figured that captains were smart enough to police themselves and not compromise security.

Now here is some of the advice you can get excerpted from the site:

Never travel in a convoy of less than four vehicles. Do not let a casualty take your focus away from a combat engagement. Give your driver your 9mm, and carry their M16/M4. Tootsie Rolls are quite nice; Jolly Ranchers will get all nasty and sticky though. If a person is responsible for the death of an individual, they do not attend during the three days of mourning; that is why if we kill an individual in sector, we are not welcome during the mourning period. Soldiers need reflexive and quick-fire training, using burst fire. If they’re shooting five to seven mortar rounds into your forward operating base, whatever you’re doing needs to be readjusted. The more aggressive you look and the faster you are, the less likely the enemy will mess with you. It is okay to tell your soldiers what the regulation is; but as a commander, you should make the effort to get the soldier home for the birth. A single wall of sandbags will not stop any significant munitions. Take pictures of everything and even, maybe more importantly, everyone. The right photo in the right hands can absolutely make the difference. It’s not always easy to reach the pistol when in the thigh holster, especially in an up-armored humvee. If they accept you into the tent, by custom they are accepting responsibility for your safety and by keeping on the body armor, you are sending a signal that you do not trust them. If tea or coffee are offered, be sure to accept the items with the right hand. Do not look at your watch when in the tent. Have the unit invest in Wiley X’s—these sunglasses also serve as sun-wind-dust goggles. Supply each soldier with one tourniquet; we use a mini-ratchet strap that is one inch wide and long enough to wrap around the thigh of a soldier. Cotton holds water. Even with the best socks, and plenty of foot powder, your feet are likely to start peeling like you’ve never experienced. You’re more likely to be injured by not wearing a seatbelt than from enemy activity. You need to train your soldiers to aim, fire, and kill. The average local is terrible at trying to read a map; however they do understand sketches—the simpler the better. The second you see your soldiers start to lose interest, or roll their eyes, or not pay attention, your S2 has failed and you, your soldiers, and the mission are in danger. Vary the departure and return times, vary the routes even if the route includes a U turn, doesn’t make sense, etc. Let’s talk about what not to bring: perishable food, lighter fluid, porn, alcohol, or personal weapons. But you might be able to get away with a Playboy or two as long as you’re not stupid about it. The 9mm round is too weak, go for headshots if you use it.

The rest of the article is really great. Up until the end. Where it goes into the usual uber civilized "the Iraqis hate us and victory is no where in sight. And Oh, by the way its just like Viet Nam". It has way more interesting military stuff, if you can over look their politics. Worth a read.

Via Strategypage