defeat insurgents in Iraq by now? I mean 99% of the insurgents are in either the relatively small Sunni Triangle area or the sparse West Iraq. And not only do you have tens of thousands of regular soldiers, there are more Army Speical forces in Iraq than they had in the Vietnam war. So what's the problem?
2006-12-15 03:01:32 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Is the US Army taught how to "win the hearts and minds" of the country in which they are fighting an insurgency or how to most effectively use their technology to kill the enenmy? Is it or is it not true that the only way to beat an insurgency is to "win the hearts & minds of the people"? And do they teach that at all the US Army War colleges/institutes?
2006-12-17 03:50:31 · update #1
Not only does the Military Academy at West Point teach counter-insurgency, but the Combined Arms Services Staff School at Ft Leavenworth, KS, also teaches it. If I'm not mistaken, the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA, does too.
Now, as to the length of time it takes, you need to look at history. Insurgency is done usually by small groups operating as terrorists, hoping to whittle away at the resolve of the local governments, and their militaries. They don't fight as a true military does.
Just as you cannot predict when a criminal will burglarize a home, you cannot predict when an insurgent will attack.
You must look at history to see the answer to defeating insurgencies. You go after the terrorists where they live, you develop intelligence, and kill off those who are doing the insurgency.
The British Army defeated an insurgency in Malaya (now called Malaysia) in the 60's. But it took twenty years to do it. They used counter-insurgency tactics, and small, elite teams, like the 22nd SAS, to defeat the communist terrorists.
You seem to want (like most Americans) to defeat the insurgency quickly. That cannot be done, unless you are willing to wipe out whole populaces to achieve that.
Just as President Bush stated, it is going to be a long battle. And those who favor retreat from Iraq before the job is done, are sealing the fate of the burgeoning government there, and a civil war will be likely. And with aid from Iran and Syria, the worst possible outcome will happen.
2006-12-15 03:36:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
The US military has extensive doctrine on counter-insurgency warfare. The problem is that this is not really an insurgency. It is small groups of terrorists operating independently. The only way to deal with this situation is to maintain enough troops to provide stability and wait for the Iraqi government, police and military to gain enough experience and stability to defend themselves.
BTW - 'West Point' is a college that primarily produces people with engineering degrees. Doctrinal issues are studied at the War College at Ft. Leavenworth.
2006-12-15 03:13:04 · answer #2 · answered by MikeGolf 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Your talking about the most difficult type of warfare to fight , finding the 2 bad guys in a group of 100 while not killing any innocents .
Everytime there is a stand up fight our guys win , it's forcing a stand up fight on the enemy thats hard . They tend to run off and hide behind the civilians .
2006-12-15 03:30:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
we could do it with in basic terms 4 human beings and me. I pity the Beelzebub that tries to end us. i wager he will become highway kill. EDIT: Jeep? we don't choose no stinking jeep. sigh. i think i'm fairly stinky.
2016-12-30 11:35:07 · answer #4 · answered by ludwig 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The US is bad at predicting future wars. Our military is designed to fight a communist Russia in open warfare still. Just recently has our military started to transition into a more mobile, unconventional fighting force. We never knew and still don't completely understand how to fight a war like this.
2006-12-15 03:14:47 · answer #5 · answered by Comnec1 2 · 3⤊ 3⤋
what do you know about which tactics the Army employs?
and for your information-your reference to S.F.; compare the actual numbers within S.F. during the Vietnam conflict and today,and you would have answered your own ridiculous question.
2006-12-15 03:14:14 · answer #6 · answered by slabsidebass 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The problem is the US is trespassing to steal the world's second largest source of oil. Native peoples, no matter what you call them, don't like that. Also, they don't like eating smoke screen excuses like "we're going to cram democracy down your throat because it's good for you and we want to help you" .
2006-12-15 03:17:19 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
they have no knowledge on how to fight these type of wars because they fought a war like the radicals Islamic
2006-12-15 03:04:30 · answer #8 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋