US battle plans begin to unravel

[cal04]

In the New York Times this week the first crack appeared in the armor of the "victory in Fallujah" facade maintained by the major US media since the battle began. Eric Schmitt and Robert Worth discuss a secret Marine Corps report that reveals the major bind the US has gotten itself into by sweeping through Fallujah and attempting to pacify it. This US strategy has created exactly the dilemma that many critics of the war had been predicting: in order to hold Fallujah the United States has to keep large numbers of troops there, and then the Americans will not have sufficient troops to handle the uprising elsewhere in the Sunni areas.

The problem is summarized thusly in the New York Times article: "Senior marine intelligence officers in Iraq are warning that if American troop levels in the Fallujah area are significantly reduced during reconstruction there, as has been planned, insurgents in the region will rebound from their defeat. The rebels could thwart the retraining of Iraqi security forces, intimidate the local population and derail elections set for January, the officers say."

Beneath this general problem lie three key problems that made the attack on Fallujah a desperation measure in the first place, and which is now creating a new and deeper crisis for the US military in its aftermath.

First, and most important, the people of Fallujah hate the Americans and support the guerrillas (even if they may have complaints about much of what they do). This means that as soon as the people return, so will the resistance, hidden from US view because virtually all the guerrillas are residents of Fallujah with supporters in the community. They will not be turned over to the US or to Iraqi police, and they will therefore begin to mount attacks on whoever is left to guard the US-installed local government.


rest of the article
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FK20Ak01.html

[teryang]

1. Anyone who thought the battle for Fallujah was a plan

...was a f..king idiot.

< 'It will take a security presence for a while until a well-trained Iraqi security force can take over the presence in Fallujah and maintain security so that the insurgents don't come back, as they have tried to do in every one of the cities that we have thrown them out of,' General George W Casey Jr, the top American commander in Iraq, said on November 8. >

Maintaining security in Fallujah or the rest of the Sunni Triangle is a pipe dream. The more troops present, the more casualties will be sustained. Mission Iraq is a failure. All that remains is recognize the truth. I guess will have to wait for a combination of bankruptcy and a sickening increase in casualties, until people realize it will be a diaster on the scale of Vietnam. It already is, people are just too stupid to realize it. Give it time.

[justa]

2. The mission in Iraq was a failure before we went in.

I was a testosterone filled war game that a bunch of little boys wanted to play because they were to scared to play when they were of the age to carry the guns themselves.

[teryang]

3. It was a failure before we went in

The american "leadership" in its arrogance and ignorance, prides itself on whizz bang technology and "american initiative and resourcefulness."

The fascist ideologues of corporate greed have completely underestimated the logistic difficulties (tooth to tail bs) and the "courage, determination, organization, initiative, and resourcefulness" of the people it seeks to conquer.

Emphasis is on body counts and spin to cover the fact that the political mission could never be achieved, to wit, invade the heart of the Arab world, and take control.

The isolation phase of the guerilla conflict has begun where the quisling government is about to completely evaporate just like the non-existent economy and infrastructure we were going to rebuild.

American forces and those of our politically dependent coalition allies are almost completely isolated in a sea of hostile people.

Where have we seen this before?

[DuaneBidoux]

4. Plan? What Plan? We have a Plan?