[Marxism] GI: Why We Cannot Win

[Intense Red <intnsred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From <http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6929.htm>:

Why We Cannot Win

by Al Lorentz

09/20/04 "LewRockwell.com" -- Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier 
currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some 
politically idealistic and naÃve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned 
Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally, I 
am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs 
and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring in this 
country and specifically in my region.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of reasons. 
Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.

When we were preparing to deploy, I told my young soldiers to beware of the 
"political solution." Just when you think you have the situation on the 
ground in hand, someone will come along with a political directive that 
throws you off the tracks.

I believe that we could have won this un-Constitutional invasion of Iraq and 
possibly pulled off the even more un-Constitutional occupation and 
subjugation of this sovereign nation. It might have even been possible to 
foist democracy on these people who seem to have no desire, understanding or 
respect for such an institution. True the possibility of pulling all this off 
was a long shot and would have required several hundred billion dollars and 
even more casualties than weâve seen to date but again it would have been 
possible, not realistic or necessary but possible.

Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.

First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because of 
politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label the 
increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as "terrorists, 
criminals and dead-enders."

This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill X 
number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished, 
everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at our 
disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the 
guerillas.

The idea behind fighting a guerilla army is not to destroy its every man (an 
impossibility since he hides himself by day amongst the populace). Rather the 
idea in guerilla warfare is to erode or destroy his base of support.

So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two more 
rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for killing him 
are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that create casualties 
among the innocent populace, you raise the support for the guerillas and 
undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound precision bomb has a 
casualty-producing radius of 400 meters minimum; do the math.)

Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed, again 
by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy idea that 
the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who would line 
the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in the street and 
be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually been support 
and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our regular military 
forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently hostile.

Attempts to correct the thinking in this regard are in vain; it is not 
politically correct to point out the fact that the locals are not only 
disliking us more and more, they are growing increasingly upset and often 
overtly hostile. Instead of addressing the reasons why the locals are 
becoming angry and discontented, we allow politicians in Washington DC to 
give us pat and convenient reasons that are devoid of any semblance of 
reality.

We are told that the locals are not upset because we have a hostile, 
aggressive and angry Army occupying their nation. We are told that they are 
not upset at the police state we have created, or at the manner of picking 
their representatives for them. Rather we are told, they are upset because of 
a handful of terrorists, criminals and dead enders in their midst have made 
them upset, that and of course the ever convenient straw man of "left wing 
media bias."

Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create them. 
This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when your 
tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas instead of 
eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart bomb" we kill 
many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger in the Iraqi 
community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits for the 
terrorists and less support for us.

We have fallen victim to the body count mentality all over again. We have 
shown a willingness to inflict civilian casualties as a necessity of war 
without realizing that these same casualties create waves of hatred against 
us. These angry Iraqi citizens translate not only into more recruits for the 
guerilla army but also into more support of the guerilla army.

Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours and 
much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this place; this 
costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or bring them by 
truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those brought by truck. 
This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies being interrupted. 
Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes infinitely more expensive.

Conversely, the guerillas live on top of their supplies and are showing every 
indication of developing a very sophisticated network for obtaining them. 
Further, they have the advantage of the close support of family and friends 
and traditional religious networks.

Fifth, we consistently underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. Many 
military commanders have prepared to fight exactly the wrong war here.

Our tactics have not adjusted to the battlefield and we are falling behind.

Meanwhile the enemy updates his tactics and has shown a remarkable resiliency 
and adaptability.

Because the current administration is more concerned with its image than it is 
with reality, it prefers symbolism to substance: soldiers are dying here and 
being maimed and crippled for life. It is tragic, indeed criminal that our 
elected public servants would so willingly sacrifice our nation's prestige 
and honor as well as the blood and treasure to pursue an agenda that is 
ahistoric and un-Constitutional.

It is all the more ironic that this un-Constitutional mission is being 
performed by citizen soldiers such as myself who swore an oath to uphold and 
defend the Constitution of the United States, the same oath that the 
commander in chief himself has sworn.

September 20, 2004

Al Lorentz [alorentz@xxxxxxxxxxxx] is former state chairman of the 
Constitution Party of Texas and is a reservist currently serving with the US 
Army in Iraq. 

Copyright  2004 LewRockwell.com 

-- 
A closed mind is a wonderful thing to lose.

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