Larry Johnson: Preparing For Retreat

[kpete]

by
Larry C Johnson

When the history of our misadventure in Iraq is written, scholars will focus on our failure to mount a counterinsurgency strategy while wasting our resources on counterterrorism operations that inadvertently fed the insurgency. During my recent trip to Iraq I saw firsthand that US forces in Iraq are focused on four principle missions:

-Counterterrorism operations
-Force Protection (securing US personnel and their bases)
-Keeping Logistics supply routes open
-Training Iraqi military forces

U.S. military forces are conducting an impressive number of counterterrorism operations every day. The term, "counterterrorism operations", refers to activities designed to identify, locate, and kill or capture terrorist operatives. It is an offensive rather than defensive tactic. Although we are capturing and killing extremist jihadist terrorists every day, the number of insurgent attacks and terrorist incidents in Iraq has continued to increase. Last year, for example, there were about 70 insurgent attacks a day. Now, there are more than 75 a day. Despite killing Zarqawi and others like him, the trend line is up, not down.

U.S. forces not involved in counterterrorism operations are involved with defensive operations -- force protection and supply route protection. The United States does not have enough military forces in Iraq to conduct and sustain an effective counterinsurgency campaign. As a result, we are forced into a defensive mode, with the exception of our counterterrorism operations, that has essentially made us spectators to the escalating civil war.

more at:
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/06/preparing_for_r.html