thedrifter
11-22-03, 05:57 AM
11-20-2003
Don’t Repeat the Mistakes of Vietnam
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
History’s follies often repeat themselves in variants when leaders become arrogant and ignore the past. Looking at recent casualty figures, Iraq is becoming reminiscent of Vietnam, although you’d hope a few of our generals, who served in Nam as junior officers, still remember the lessons from that war.
Despite reports that rebuilding is going splendidly and over 60 percent of Iraqis supposedly believe they’ll be better off with us, hatred against Americans is also on the rise. The cause: a growing number of innocent casualties from overwhelming U.S. firepower in response to increased guerilla activity.
In one incident, U.S. troops fired on a wedding party, killing a young boy. In another, a police patrol suffered eight officers killed. On Sept. 28, the 4th Infantry Division deployed tanks, helicopters, A-10 tank-busters and F-15 fighter-bombers against suspected guerrilla nests. While the troops captured fourteen suspected guerrillas, the incident caused many more citizens to hate Americans. Fleeing Iraqis reported that as many as 10 houses were destroyed and scores of civilians were injured when helicopters fired incessantly at suspected holdouts.
In some locations, Iraqis despise the Americans more than they do Saddam Hussein. Sounds a bit like Nam? Have we forgotten that we tried to shore up Vietnamese confidence by being overly kind, rebuilding infrastructure and giving medical support, while at the same time we burned entire villages in retaliation for suspected Vietcong activities?
Like Nam, this conflict isn’t as simple as previously advertised. You can’t deny our troops the right to self-defense. When you’re in no-man’s land and your orders are to conduct a raid, you do what has to be done and to come out alive. When you see one of your own guys blown to bits and pieces by a homemade bomb, you’ll look for someone to hold accountable – real payback. The key is to pay back the right people and not the innocent civilians.
Cluster-bombing and rocket barrages aren’t the answer. While fighting the bad guys, you also have to make sure that the enemy’s numbers aren’t growing as a result of your own actions. Sure, we defeated the Iraqi Army, but we didn’t destroy them. Looking at the official prisoner of war count of around 10-15 thousand, up to 400,000 troops blended back into the population. They’re a fine pool for an organized national resistance movement.
The other enemy is infiltrating through the borders of Syria and Iran – fanatical Al Qaeda fighters and some loonies merely wanting to kill American infidels in the name of Allah. And there’s where you’ll find the Nam repeat!
While the military is riling up the Iraqi population inside the borders, we’re not isolating the battlefield. Isolating means tightly controlling the borders through which fighters and guerilla supplies infiltrate. It baffles me that the U.S. brass screams about terrorists coming in from everywhere and at the same time they’re turning the Iran border over to the Iraqis.
On Sept. 28, an AP report quoted a proud 4th Infantry Brigade commander that he formally handed patrol duties over to the Iraqis. Another commander tells of an incident where the Iraqi patrols stopped two Afghans with Taliban ID cards but quickly released them. The borders are opening instead of closing!
I know our grunts are doing the best they can. Nonetheless, it seems obvious that our operational priorities aren’t on target. Since President Bush will probably not be successful in recruiting international troops in massive numbers, it seems important to quickly turn the policing of Iraq’s population over to the Iraqi authorities. American soldiers would be misused and misinterpreted in that mission.
Instead, U.S. forces should be used to protect the borders and the oil pipeline system, which is successfully sabotaged every other day. If the administration plans to use oil revenues to partly pay for Iraq’s reconstruction, wouldn’t the pipeline system be a great target for relentless satellite surveillance, as well as continuous air and ground patrols?
Iraq is a test for U.S. strategy. Since we’re in it with both feet now, we have to help repair damages and make Iraq functional again. Sadly, this requires substantial expenditures and, unavoidably, more human sacrifice.
To speed the rebuilding, Central Command should pull U.S. troops out of the direct line of guerilla warfare. Let the Iraqis police their own citizens, while we isolate the battleground. Above all else, we must not equate the initial rapid military battle for Iraq with ultimate victory. Remember Germany’s attack on France? The Germans won militarily in thirty days – but the occupation of Europe and taking on of additional strategic burdens led to Germany’s long-term defeat.
Contributing Editor Lt. Col. (U.S. Army, ret.) Ralf W. Zimmermann is a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. Since his retirement, his columns have regularly appeared in Army Times and other publications. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=264&rnd=664.314971752626
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Don’t Repeat the Mistakes of Vietnam
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
History’s follies often repeat themselves in variants when leaders become arrogant and ignore the past. Looking at recent casualty figures, Iraq is becoming reminiscent of Vietnam, although you’d hope a few of our generals, who served in Nam as junior officers, still remember the lessons from that war.
Despite reports that rebuilding is going splendidly and over 60 percent of Iraqis supposedly believe they’ll be better off with us, hatred against Americans is also on the rise. The cause: a growing number of innocent casualties from overwhelming U.S. firepower in response to increased guerilla activity.
In one incident, U.S. troops fired on a wedding party, killing a young boy. In another, a police patrol suffered eight officers killed. On Sept. 28, the 4th Infantry Division deployed tanks, helicopters, A-10 tank-busters and F-15 fighter-bombers against suspected guerrilla nests. While the troops captured fourteen suspected guerrillas, the incident caused many more citizens to hate Americans. Fleeing Iraqis reported that as many as 10 houses were destroyed and scores of civilians were injured when helicopters fired incessantly at suspected holdouts.
In some locations, Iraqis despise the Americans more than they do Saddam Hussein. Sounds a bit like Nam? Have we forgotten that we tried to shore up Vietnamese confidence by being overly kind, rebuilding infrastructure and giving medical support, while at the same time we burned entire villages in retaliation for suspected Vietcong activities?
Like Nam, this conflict isn’t as simple as previously advertised. You can’t deny our troops the right to self-defense. When you’re in no-man’s land and your orders are to conduct a raid, you do what has to be done and to come out alive. When you see one of your own guys blown to bits and pieces by a homemade bomb, you’ll look for someone to hold accountable – real payback. The key is to pay back the right people and not the innocent civilians.
Cluster-bombing and rocket barrages aren’t the answer. While fighting the bad guys, you also have to make sure that the enemy’s numbers aren’t growing as a result of your own actions. Sure, we defeated the Iraqi Army, but we didn’t destroy them. Looking at the official prisoner of war count of around 10-15 thousand, up to 400,000 troops blended back into the population. They’re a fine pool for an organized national resistance movement.
The other enemy is infiltrating through the borders of Syria and Iran – fanatical Al Qaeda fighters and some loonies merely wanting to kill American infidels in the name of Allah. And there’s where you’ll find the Nam repeat!
While the military is riling up the Iraqi population inside the borders, we’re not isolating the battlefield. Isolating means tightly controlling the borders through which fighters and guerilla supplies infiltrate. It baffles me that the U.S. brass screams about terrorists coming in from everywhere and at the same time they’re turning the Iran border over to the Iraqis.
On Sept. 28, an AP report quoted a proud 4th Infantry Brigade commander that he formally handed patrol duties over to the Iraqis. Another commander tells of an incident where the Iraqi patrols stopped two Afghans with Taliban ID cards but quickly released them. The borders are opening instead of closing!
I know our grunts are doing the best they can. Nonetheless, it seems obvious that our operational priorities aren’t on target. Since President Bush will probably not be successful in recruiting international troops in massive numbers, it seems important to quickly turn the policing of Iraq’s population over to the Iraqi authorities. American soldiers would be misused and misinterpreted in that mission.
Instead, U.S. forces should be used to protect the borders and the oil pipeline system, which is successfully sabotaged every other day. If the administration plans to use oil revenues to partly pay for Iraq’s reconstruction, wouldn’t the pipeline system be a great target for relentless satellite surveillance, as well as continuous air and ground patrols?
Iraq is a test for U.S. strategy. Since we’re in it with both feet now, we have to help repair damages and make Iraq functional again. Sadly, this requires substantial expenditures and, unavoidably, more human sacrifice.
To speed the rebuilding, Central Command should pull U.S. troops out of the direct line of guerilla warfare. Let the Iraqis police their own citizens, while we isolate the battleground. Above all else, we must not equate the initial rapid military battle for Iraq with ultimate victory. Remember Germany’s attack on France? The Germans won militarily in thirty days – but the occupation of Europe and taking on of additional strategic burdens led to Germany’s long-term defeat.
Contributing Editor Lt. Col. (U.S. Army, ret.) Ralf W. Zimmermann is a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. Since his retirement, his columns have regularly appeared in Army Times and other publications. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=264&rnd=664.314971752626
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: