Kill Squads
Even the Department of Defense is jumping on the outsourcing wagon!
What do I think? Well, I think this is a double-edged sword. I agree with the statement above: we've lost the momentum, we've lost the initiative. One of the most basic tenets of tactical decision making is the Boyd Cycle, or OODA Loop. "OODA" stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Basically, you observe what your opponent is doing, you alter your own orientation, you decide on a plan of action, and you act accordingly. By quickly engaging the enemy before he can react to you, you force him to react to you. Right now, we're reacting to the enemy; he's observing us, changing his tactics, and engaging us.
I think that these "death squads" are a good idea. The Iraqis are eventually going to have to take over their own security, and teaching them how to operate as anti-terrorist guerillas, just like our SEAL teams or Delta Force guys, is an excellent idea; I'd assumed they'd already been working on it. They have the virtue of being local, and having a legitimate interest in restoring and maintaining government stability.
What this can't turn into is another "Vietnamization" project. America, and the rest of the world, can not afford to leave Iraq, just to have it slip back into theocratic chaos. Iraq will require prolonged, visible, aggressive assistance from the Coalition, even if that assistance constitutes reduced manpower as time goes on. We should look to the model of South Korea or Japan, where assistance and continued military presence has yielded outstanding results.
Determined to find a way to contain the growing insurgency in Iraq, Newsweek reported Sunday that the US and Iraq are considering using a tactic that was used in Central America during the Reagan administration - "government funded or supported 'nationalist' forces that allegedly included so-called 'death squads' directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers."
Newsweek also reported that the squads would be composed of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen that would "target" Sunni insurgent leaders and their sympatizers. The move comes at a time when the BBC reports that the insurgency has developed into "near open warfare." Military experts believe that instead of containing the insurgents in Fallujah, the recent battle there spread them out across Iraq.
The Pentagon refused to comment on the Newsweek report, but according to The Times of London, one military insider said, "What everyone agrees is that we can’t just go on as we are. We have to find a way to take the offensive against the insurgents. Right now, we are playing defense. And we are losing."
What do I think? Well, I think this is a double-edged sword. I agree with the statement above: we've lost the momentum, we've lost the initiative. One of the most basic tenets of tactical decision making is the Boyd Cycle, or OODA Loop. "OODA" stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Basically, you observe what your opponent is doing, you alter your own orientation, you decide on a plan of action, and you act accordingly. By quickly engaging the enemy before he can react to you, you force him to react to you. Right now, we're reacting to the enemy; he's observing us, changing his tactics, and engaging us.
I think that these "death squads" are a good idea. The Iraqis are eventually going to have to take over their own security, and teaching them how to operate as anti-terrorist guerillas, just like our SEAL teams or Delta Force guys, is an excellent idea; I'd assumed they'd already been working on it. They have the virtue of being local, and having a legitimate interest in restoring and maintaining government stability.
What this can't turn into is another "Vietnamization" project. America, and the rest of the world, can not afford to leave Iraq, just to have it slip back into theocratic chaos. Iraq will require prolonged, visible, aggressive assistance from the Coalition, even if that assistance constitutes reduced manpower as time goes on. We should look to the model of South Korea or Japan, where assistance and continued military presence has yielded outstanding results.
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