How can you win a war when you can't identify the enemy?

Question

First, exactly who is the enemy in Iraq? Sunnis, Shiites, Al Qadi, Terrorists or all of the above?

And if even if the enemy existed, how can you operate when they look and act like the rest of the population?

All previous wars consisted of enemies that were in known geographic locations and they wore uniforms.

It comes down to this - war is obsolete, and the sooner we realize that, the less people are going to die.

Answer 1

You can't.

Answer 2

You win by doing the little things well. It's more a political than a purely military process, and it's impossible to guage a 4th-generation war by 2nd- or 3rd-generation war standards. Gaining cooperation among sectarian elements is a goal, and calling them "enemy" is not necessarily accurate or wise. Note that one of the biggest problems of the past year has been dealing with al Sadr and his Mahdists, Shi'ites all, but they were (reluctantly) cooperative last week. Some of the Sunni groups have also come around, as last month a sweep through a Sunni area was greatly aided by cooperation of some of the local Sunnis who would not have done so a year ago.
If we have staying power, a big if given American politics, there's every reason to think the Iraqi government will be able to take over much of that job perhaps in a year or two, and leave the darker, more difficult task of disrupting support groups like al Qaeda as all we need to do, and we'll have to deal with them whether we have a military presence in Iraq or not, though having troops there will certainly make things easier.
There's nothing at all new about counterinsurgency operations. We've done reasonably well with the Philippine insurrection, came out better than even with the "banana wars," and though we left Vietnam for the NVA, the Viet Cong were beaten long before we left Vietnam, so the historical precedent is not at all pessimistic, despite so many people trying to rewrite military history. Your statement about "all previous wars" only shows a lack of knowledge of military history and a lack of understanding of 4th generation war. I'd suggest you read a few books and then google 4th-gen. war.
It would be nice for war to be obsolete, but it only changes its character, and overall it seems a well-chosen war often has the effect of saving lives compared to leaving some groups unchecked.

Answer 3

Well you kinda made sense up until that last part...
You started off well enough. You can understand why this war is taking so long. We beat the Iraqi Army in what, 18days...fighting insurgency is much more difficult. Traditional warfare has been thrown to the wayside in Iraq as far as our enemies are concerned. We however continue to adhere to the Laws of War. It has hurt us somewhat. Our hands are oftne tied when we should be responding.

But ask yourself about identifying the criminal. You can't until they commit a crime....so is police work obsolete? Do we just give up and fire the police forces? No. We cannot give up here and basically print a roadmap to defeating the United States....

Answer 4

This is best answered by a linguist. The current administration would like everyone to believe that we are "at war" because of the positive sound bite. The mass media repeats this assertion night after night until it becomes a given. However, other terms may be more accurate.

The truth is that we invaded two countries (and others) and are now occupying those countries. It would not surprise me if there was some "resistance" movement and some other conflict, but have you ever seen the movie Wag the Dog (1997)?

Answer 5

You win the war by being able to fight the war, which the bullshit rules of engagement, false political correctness, and the uneducated whining of American civilians do not allow our troops to do.

The enemy does exist, the death of our troops prove that. The problem is that the media reports anyone who did not declare their partaking in terrorist activities prior to death as a "civilian" casualty. Thus the mostly left wing civilians get restless and are quick to believe what the media feeds them. If the civilians would let the troops do their job, the war would be over already.

What it really comes down to is this:

War has been around forever. It will always be around. There will be no end to all wars or hatred. Because of that we much defend our freedom and defend ourselves.

I regret these facts, but if everyone would attempt to understand war rather then constantly criticize it, then the unpleasantness of each individual war would not last as long.

There have been worse wars then that of the Iraq war, and I'm sure there will be worse in the future. At any rate I will defend and support my husband and his comrades wholeheartedly, no matter if anyone tells me otherwise.

I wish all good people happiness, luck, and love in their life. God Bless and Semper Fi

Answer 6

The enemy are the terrorists, those who support terrorists, and those trying to stop the Iraqi people from governing themselves.

Having to weed out the enemy is why it is taking so long!

Study your history, too - there have been plenty of war and military situations that have involved enemies without uniforms... Confederate soldiers in the civil war, the Viet Cong during the Vietnam Conflict, and what about guerilla warfare? What about the military elite (for many countries) that fight out of uniform?

Answer 7

In my opinion conventional war is obsolete. This really isn't a war, although it's been cast as such by the media and administration. I guess the term "war" has a feel that other words don't have. At any rate what we are dealing with are criminals, not a sovereign nation. We need "police" work. We need intelligence to identify the criminals, and work to root them out of hiding and bring them to justice. This requires cooperation from the nations where they hide. As long as we keep sending soldiers in uniform many will keep coming home in bags.

Answer 8

The British had the same problem during the American Revolution. The lines of battle are frequently not clear cut. It is the military strategy of the disadvantaged to seek confusion as a refuge against superior forces. The choice is clear--confuse your oppressors or stand up and be shot!

Unfortunately, war is not obsolete and will never go out of style. There are too many people who yearn for the goods of others. These people grow into countries who are willing to war to take the resources of other countries. War is as inevitable as death.

However, I too aspire to peace and when I am particularly aroused by the concept, I tune into John Lennon and his idyllic music classic--- "Imagine". It is extremely therapeutic to us dreamers who seek a better way of life.

Answer 9

A war where the enemy is difficult to identify is not, first and foremost, a war. It's an investigation. It requires identifying the people who are the enemy, tracking them to locate their allies, superiors, and subordinates, and finally using military force to either capture or kill the enemy. Welcome to the war on terrorism.

Iraq is, in my opinion, a war where we didn't even have a goal. First it was the weapons of mass destruction (flip), then terrorist bases (flop), then removing an evil dictator (flip), then fostering democracy (flop)...

Answer 10

True today as it ever was.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Answer 11

War is not obsolete. The American people have just lost their stomach for it. We live too pampered a life and have not know sacrifice for too long. We have become too sensitive. War until just recently was a people against another people and it was not pleasant but it was necessary at times. Now we want to hug our enemies into not killing us.

If others want to kill us just for being us we need to stop them not dance around their feelings.