Neocon, re: Mostly, I hope, myself, for a major offensive ASAP, especially in Fallujah, spear-headed, as I have said repeatedly, by special forces units for the "surgical interdiction" of the leadership and much of their armaments. But I am not privy to any special knowledge, so Que Sera, Sera..........
I think many of the differences between our viewpoints is due to the fact that we see the abilities of our military forces differently. You seem to believe that special forces units can act to "surgically interdict" leadership and that a "major offensive" can kill the insurgents. I think both views are examples of unrealistic super hero thinking with respect to our military.
Ask Unclewest if you want a more informed opinion, but in my experience the special forces units in Iraq are only as effective as their intelligence information allows.
It's true that they have good training, good firepower, good communications and some tricky night vision and other tech tools to use. The bad guys, however, know the neighborhood, speak the Iraqi language, know what we can do and are planning for it, and are some very tough and experienced fighters.
The best training for war is not in the classroom; the best training is from surviving combat. In addition when engaging in close-in fighting those who are on the offensive are at a distinct disadvantage because they must move out of cover to advance.
My bottom line is that unless we simply use our power to blow things up from the air with bombs, rockets, and artillery, with the associated losses of civilian lives, we will pay such a cost in launching a "major offensive" that the American public will begin to take a serious shot at asking "what dog do we have in that fight?"
If we do take that costly path in Falluja, I think we will NOT attempt it in the near aftermath in Sadr City or any of the other populated areas. In other words, I think we lack the capacity to take such areas without substantial losses and when we're finished I suspect the same houses will be repopulated with more of those we just killed. Ed |
