Iraq: Parallels
with Vietnam becoming ominous for US commanders (Irish Times,
subscriber-only). An interesting view on the situation Iraq:
US commanders in Iraq now believe that during the invasion, lower-echelon
Iraqi troops mounted a token defence against US armour and air power
while thousands of Republican Guard members went to ground in order to
wage a prolonged guerrilla war during the subsequent occupation.
As the current attacks evolve in sophistication and momentum, US troops
believe that the current phase of the war is not an ad-hoc development,
but part of a pre-planned strategy designed to frustrate US plans to
rebuild Iraq.
Further indicators as to the source of the insurgency lie in the
weaponry and tactics employed. US convoys and patrols are repeatedly
attacked with IEDs configured as roadside bombs along with RPG strikes.
… It is believed that the plastic explosives and RPGs were released
from military stores in the run-up to the invasion and pre-deployed
among the population for a war of attrition.
Wounding rather than killing the enemy is a classic feature of this type
of war of attrition. By wounding as many enemy troops as possible, the
guerrilla army ties up the resources of the occupying force as it seeks
to evacuate and treat its personnel.
The architects of the current attacks recognise that it is far more
expensive for the US to medically evacuate and treat injured soldiers
than to simply process them for burial. For the insurgents, the
psychological effect of their attacks is greatly enhanced with families
and politicians in the US confronted with mutilated and disfigured
soldiers returning from Iraq.
It would appear that the war in Iraq did not end on May 1st. It simply
entered a new phase designed to render Iraq ungovernable.
No ‘US commanders’ are named, so it’s all off-the-record.
Humour: on a lighter note, BBC Radio 4’s
Loose Ends, recorded in the Spiegeltent in Dublin last weekend,
featuring ‘writers Anne Enright and John Arden, Desmond Guinness of the
Irish Georgian Society, comedian Dara O’Briain, Chieftain Paddy Moloney
and Loose Ends regular Emma Freud.’
Tags: attrition, enemy, guerrilla, invasion, iraq, irish, parallels, phase, times, view, war
