Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity

[ProSense]

Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity

Bigger Bombs a Key Cause of May's High Death Toll

By Ann Scott Tyson and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 3, 2007; Page A01

As U.S. troops push more deeply into Baghdad and its volatile outskirts, Iraqi insurgents are using increasingly sophisticated and lethal means of attack, including bigger roadside bombs that are resulting in greater numbers of American fatalities relative to the number of wounded.

Insurgents are deploying huge, deeply buried munitions set up to protect their territory and mounting complex ambushes that demonstrate their ability to respond rapidly to new U.S. tactics and a counterinsurgency strategy that has placed thousands of additional American troops in small outposts in Baghdad and other parts of the country.

"It is very clear that the number of attacks against U.S. forces is up" and that they have grown more effective in Baghdad, especially in recent weeks, said Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons, deputy commander for operations in Iraq. At the same time, he said, attacks on Iraqi security forces have declined slightly, citing figures that compare the period of mid-February to mid-May to the preceding three months. "The attacks are being directed at us and not against other people," he said.

May, with 127 American fatalities, was the third-deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2003 invasion. As in the conflict's two deadliest months for U.S. troops -- 137 died in November 2004 and 135 in April of that year -- the overarching cause of May's toll is the ongoing, large-scale U.S. military operations. Simmons called the high U.S. losses in May "a very painful and heart-wrenching experience."

The intensity of combat and the greater lethality of attacks on U.S. troops is underscored by the lower ratio of wounded to killed for May, which fell to about 4.8 to 1 -- compared with an average of 8 to 1 in the Iraq conflict, according Pentagon data. "The closer you get to a stand-up fight, the closer you're going to get to that 3-to-1 ratio" that typified 2oth-century U.S. warfare, said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a defense information Web site.

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The terrorist training school Bush helped to establish by invading Iraq is doing quite well

[Aviation Pro]

1. The insurgency is about to breach the gap into....

...organized warfare (as defined by U.S. military doctrine). They have demonstrated a fluid chain of command, ability to initiate offensive and counter-offensive measures, a contiguous supply chain, superior understanding of the terrain and, I believe, superiority in strength of numbers. The only elements that are missing are force multipliers and recognized uniforms (which they will not do).

[wtmusic]

2. What's a force multiplier? nt

[dave_p]

3. Intangibles

- training, discipline, experience, technique... if they're developing in complexity it sounds like they already have it. That's what four years of war does. I guess that never occurred to Wolfowitz & co. Duh. But then they weren't at the sharp end...

[Aviation Pro]

4. Very tangibles....

...a combination of artillery, air, helicopter assets, etc. in concert with direct fire troops. They multiply the lethiality and effectiveness of an operation.

[wtmusic]

5. It sounds like they're already there

from reading about the number of incidents where an IED attack is followed by small arms, RPGs, etc.

Remember, we're talking about limited resources here.

[Aviation Pro]

6. That's more along the lines of coordinated operations....

...you need the big stuff to be considered a force multiplier.

[wtmusic]

7. In that case post-Tet Vietnam was merely "coordinated operations"

The Viet Cong managed to kill 40,000 Americans without the big stuff.

[Aviation Pro]

8. Actually, the NVA did a very good job moving T-34s and....

...their were some actual engagements with Soviet MiG-15s during the war. Yes the Viet Cong did considerable damage, but only we fought them on their terms (oops, did I just juxtapose Vietnam to Iraq, sorry about that).