<I think Iraqis are nuts. They want electric power but snipe our guys who are fixing the grid.>
The guerrillas are concentrating their attacks on essential infrastructure (electricity, oil), which has to function if the U.S. is going to achieve any normalization of daily life for Iraqis. They are also systematically intimidating, and in some cases killing, any Iraqis who collaborate with the American occupation army.
The average Iraqi will judge the occupation, not on whether we hold elections, but on whether their daily life gets better. If we can't create an environment where most Iraqis have food, water, housing, electicity, then the population will turn against us. We will be blamed, not the guerrillas.
If we spread out our soldiers, in an attempt to protect the electricity and oil infrastructure, we provide lots of easy targets for the guerrillas. If we don't do this, then the guerrillas make the country ungovernable, and gradually create "no-go" zones for our troops. Repeatedly, there have been press reports of Iraqi demands that U.S. soldiers stay out of specific towns and neighborhoods. The guerrillas will then take over essential services, providing security, food, health care. They become the de facto government.
If you think they're nuts, you just don't understand guerrilla tactics. |
