Since we all know that the only way to win an insurgent war is to win the "hearts & minds" of the civilian....

Question

population, how does the US military in Iraq win hearts & minds of the Iraqi civilians?

Do they live with the Iraqi people in the Sunni Triangle? Do they live with the Iraqi civilians in the Shiite/Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad? Do they live in the Iraqi villages in the Anabar province? And if they do how long do they live with them? A month, 6 months, a year, etc....?

Answer 1

I am afraid that you are laboring under a misconception. Who has proved that this is the way to win a civil war that we caused in the first place.
We have sowed the seeds of insurrection so deeply that it will be years before the constitution we dictated will even begin to take effect. That, and when one side has decisively won the civil war.

Answer 2

As much as you clearly don't want to hear this, the U.S. has done quite a bit.

Fact: Because of the U.S. military, the entire country of Iraq now has electricity. Under Saddam Hussein, only Sunni areas had electricity.
The news reports of power outages... however, Iraqis are using far more electricity than they ever did. An Iraqi may live in a mud house, but you can be guaranteed that there will be a satellite dish attached to it. The usage sometimes outweighs the output. Also, it is a culture where people only care about themselves, not the community as a whole, so it's not uncommon for disturbances in electricity because some jerk wants to steal rubber tubing for his own uses. (Thereby allowing the wires to be damaged and cutting power.)

Fact: Garbage gets picked up in villages and towns because of Americans. Again, because people don't care about community, they throw their garbage out the window, with no regard for the piles of stinking trash it leaves on the streets.

Fact: Sewer systems have been built and/or refurbished because of the Americans.

Fact: Schools are being built and equipped because of the Americans.

It's a slow process for many reasons. Besides the obvious danger of the insurgency, the American soldiers are dealing with a culture that is very different from our own. Iraqis are extraordinarily short sighted, very egocentric and lie more easily than they tell the truth. Sheiks are hard deal with and often don't cooperate because "It's Allah's will." They've had to live that way for dozens of years just for survival. It can't be expected (although it's hoped for) that they can just turn on a dime. These are just a few reasons in addition to what other posters have written why this is going to be A Long War.

These are only the things that I KNOW of, NOT that I have read about. That's quite a lot our U.S. soldiers and Marines are doing all the while fighting an insurgency and defending themselves from frequent attacks. Meanwhile, you're sitting in your underwear in a nice comfortable home spouting uninformed, ill thought out nonsense. Enough with your silly rhetorical questions. I mean, really, you must realize that your "questions" were utterly ridiculous. If you're against the war, do the rest of war protestors a favor and just shut up. I doubt they want you being a spokesperson for them.

Answer 3

Only liberals win wars by winning "hearts and minds".

That's why you guys are here in the states, where it's safe, and you can have your little wine coolers and gossip and call people names.

Real men know that you win wars with guns, training and professionalism. Look, you have every right to be effeminate and think like a pu ssy. More power to you.

Just don't join the military. They'll kill you first for their own safety.

Now for an educational update: the citizens in the Sunni Triangle are now actively informing both Iraqis and Americans. The reason why they're doing it is because they saw us come in and take over the streets, and we "won their hearts and minds" by killing or chasing out the criminals who were threatening to shoot them if they talked.

It's actually a pattern. Civilians always act as informants as soon as they know they're safe, and they always have the best intelligence.

That's how you win hearts and minds.

Answer 4

You seem to be operating under the misconception that anything but a small percentage of the Iraqi people support the enemy.

Have you forgotten that the Iraqi people elected a government in UN-certified election? And that the insurgents are fighting _against_ the will of the Iraqi people in an attempt to set themselves up as dictators?

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Its not going to be easy since a lot of civilians have relatives who are insurgents, they want the insurgents out, but they don't want to kill their family members.

Answer 7

You are correct that based on how they operate, it is impossible for US forces to win an insurgent war anywhere. It failed in Vietnam, and it will fail in Iraq. The longer we stay, the more they hate us, and hate never brought about peace.

Answer 8

not a question, just a rant.