At the same time, while Iraq may not be a quagmire, it’s not a cakewalk either. An American Black Hawk helicopter was downed today in what appears to be an RPG attack. 6 soldiers were killed in that attack. Another attack claimed the lives of 2 Americans in Mosul.
Fortunately the Pentagon is finally reconfiguring our force strategy in Iraq to maximize our ability to hunt down these militants. The 1st Armored Division will be rotated into Iraq from Germany, and First Marine Division will arrive in Iraq as well.
Sending the Marines in is a sign that the Pentagon is serious aboute removing the militants in Iraq from the face of the Earth. The Marines are trained to be excellent fighters for these kind of conditions – they’re trained to kill, and they do that job better than anyone. Putting the First Marine Division in Iraq is something that should have happened a long time ago.
At the same time, the Pentagon is increasing the number of reservists, which may be problematic. However, concentrating reservists in the relatively peaceful north and south of Iraq would free additional combat-oriented troops to focus in on the Sunni Triangle where most of the attacks are being launched.
This reorganization has been a long time coming, but it is a necessary step towards fixing the situation in Iraq. By concentrating our combat forces on the enemy rather than police work it will put our troops on the right footing to fight back against the terrorists who would return Iraq to repression.
Jay,
Great blog, as always.
But two questions:
On what do you base the statement that “The Marines are trained to be excellent fighters for these kind of conditions – they’re trained to kill, and they do that job better than anyone.” What – the Army is trained to merely maim? The Marines are excellent light infantry, and certainly excel at close-in infantry tactics – but then, so do the Army’s 82nd Airborne (who are largely deployed in the North), the Light infantry divisions, the Rangers, and any mech unit that has served in Germany.
Also – the First Marine Division already was in Iraq, IIRC; it was they that were the eastern prong of the race to the Bagh.
The Marines are generally better anti-insurgency fighters. The Army has some great infantry regiments – don’t get me wrong – but the Army still is geared towards a more conventional style of warfare. (With some notable exceptions of course)
The Marines are the ones that have been traditionally the “tip of the spear” in US ground forces, and given the situation ramping up our anti-insurgency capabilities seems to be the right thing to do.
And you don’t think there’s any relationship between our arbitrary strongman tactics currently in place and the rise of insurgent attacks? You honestly believe that EVERY ATTACK so far has either been the work of Saddam loyalists or al Qaeda operatives? Not even considering the possibility that the Shi’ites and Kurds might not like the idea of being occupied, either?
Both the Shi’ites and the Kurds just spent the last 20 years being slaughtered en masse by the Ba’athists. If the US leaves, they get slaughtered again. It’s pretty clear that even if they don’t like us, they need us around for their own protection – a sentiment validated by the several polls taken of the Iraqi people in the last few months.