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November 25, 2003

Striking Back in Iraq

It appears that our counteroffensive against the Iraqi resistance is bearing some fruit. U.S. forces are reporting that there have been fewer attacks against American troops since we began the counteroffensive. This is not surprising as the enemy we face cannot stand effectively against U.S. troops in open combat. This is truly asymmetrical warfare, with the enemy utilizing the advantages of surprise and initiative to launch attacks that favor his forces. While we are far stronger than the enemy as a whole, the situation on the ground allows the enemy to gain temporary advantages by choosing the time and place for the fighting. Our decision to take more active measures against the enemy means that he no longer has the same advantage, or at least not to the extent he did previously.

One of the keys to success in war (and one of the tenets of Army operations as laid out by the United States Army’s Field Manual 3–0, Operations) is initiative. Initiative is the ability to control the tempo of operations and to exert greater control over the course of events. After the fall of Baghdad, the enemy gained the initiative we held during major combat operations. They had gone to ground while our forces shifted from a combat mentality to a stability and support mentality. This up gave the enemy the opportunity to attack as with relative impunity as they could choose the time and place of the engagements. The enemy could not expect this to last forever and it appears that it has now come to an end; more precisely, their attacks on Coalition forces will no longer be as easy or as successful as they had been. The Islamofascists have paid a high price for their attacks, and our success in killing many of them has probably helped to reduce their ability to recruit more people to their cause.

Unfortunately this does not mean that we have won the battle; far from it. It is an important first step, but we the enemy has already shifted his tactics to go after Iraqis deemed to be cooperating with the U.S. It’s too early to tell whether the new attacks will increase or decrease support for the Islamofascists, but it’s imperative we escalate our counteroffensive to bring down the terrorists now launching attacks against Iraqis. While I’m not confident we can hand over power to the Iraqis as quickly as the Bush Administration is now planning, our only chance to meet the July timetable is by getting Iraqis involved in running day-to-day activities. This will be hard to do if the Islamofascists are permitted to keep attacking them.

The U.S. counteroffensive represents a good start, but it is only a start. We’re going to have to ramp things up significantly if hope to do serious damage to the enemy.