Now I have news for you, we didnt lose in vietnam, johnson administration and war protesters did .
Your absolutely right. It is starting again in Iraq too. Not due to Bush, he is actually been a great Commander -n- Chief. Certainly not due to Rumsfeld either. If you have to place blame, then it rest's squarely on the Politics of the US Army and the media.
Facts are Bad News sells Newspapers, not "we are doing great but set backs can be expected". This fuels the "fast food" culture of America who want a quick and easy victory. Counter-Insurgency warfare is neither quick nor easy. The successful ones have taken decades to win and have been fought on the sly out of public view. The Media is creating the perception we are losing when in fact we are not.
Right now, we are beginning to hear the cry of "more troops" in Iraq. This is a bad thing. Conventional troops are not trained for this type of warfare. They are a broadsword designed to fight other large conventional forces. They did outstanding against the Iraqi Army in the largest and fastest armored thrust the world has ever seen.
This type of warfare requires a careful application of force, an understanding of the culture, and of humanity in general.
Example:
In Afghanistan there was a grenade attack. A little boy came up and tossed a grenade in the back of a parked Hilux Pick-up truck. The US Soldiers bailed out and nobody was hurt. The little boy was immediately detained. Nobody yelled at him, it was obvious he was just as scared and shaken by the experience as the soldiers. He was put in the back of another truck out of sight and given some candy and comfort. When he came out, the little boy spotted the man who gave him the grenade and pointed him out. He was immediately detained. The little boy was then taken to his parents who were NOT happy he was involved in the violence. They were extremely grateful that their child was protected; he was in the end, as all children are, innocent. Some twisted adult gave him the grenade to "play a trick" on the Americans.
I was talking to a young soldier, a good kid who just returned from Fallujah. They also experienced a young child throwing a grenade someone had given him in a crowded market. Their company commander was killed when the grenade went off. The little boy ran off into the crowd that quickly scattered as the entire company opened fire. I asked the kid what they were shooting at, he didn't know, everybody was just scared and shooting at "the enemy" simply because the guy next to them was shooting. That is the correct reaction IF another unit attacks you. After a few minutes, when no return fire was experienced, the order to cease-fire was given. Everyone was scared and angry. Their company commander had been a good officer and a good man.
The average man living in Fallujah just wants to live his life in peace and keep his family safe. He might not like the Americans but he is not picking up a gun to fight. Basically he is sitting on the fence hoping not to be caught in the middle. Now with US bullets flying through his living room, it won't take him long to decide the best course of action is to pick up a gun and stop them. The insurgents won that engagement. Not only did they kill a good man, but they helped to erode any popular support.
Large conventional forces unwittingly create insurgents just by the nature of their operations. The cry for "More Troops" = MORE INSURGENTS = More fighting.
Now the flipside is that most of the "insurgents" at this point are not Iraqi's. They are other Arabs who have come to "fight the infidels". Many of them are AQ or AQ wantabees. Good thing for us, I would rather fight them in Iraq than in the United States.
Crumpp
