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| Iraq |
| Insurgents examine U.S. success in Iraq |
| 2008-01-09 |
| A comment after the article -- Maybe this article should be required reading for the Democratic politicians who still insist the Surge has failed. The U.S. military's successes in Iraq last year were more than partly due to better intelligence, says an analysis posted on the Web by insurgents. The Jihadi forum Montada.Yaqen posted what one expert called "an extensive analysis" of the security plan implemented in Iraq by U.S. and Iraqi forces as part of President Bush's "surge" policy adopted early last year. According to an analysis for the Jamestown Foundation, a forum participant identified as a "correspondent" on the "Iraqi front" commenced his analysis by citing Sun Tzu. "Iraq's Islamist insurgents believe that the U.S. military allocates a significant portion of its assets to the creation of hostile propaganda that spreads false information and exaggerates accounts of the successes of Coalition security campaigns," reads the analysis by the foundation's Abdul Bakier. He says the correspondent identifies three phases to the U.S. plan: a "preliminary phase," which "started three to four months before the actual implementation of the plan," and focused on intelligence about the various insurgent networks, because a lack of it "was the major reason for U.S. failures in previous operations." U.S. forces "succeeded in penetrating the secrecy shield of the Jihadis," writes Bakier, "allowing intelligence units to analyze Jihadi groups in different operational sectors and 'hot spots.'" U.S. forces also exploited differences between the groups, Bakier adds: "The rivalry between various Jihadi factions compromised Jihadi security and secrecy, denying the resistance the element of surprise in their operations. "The behavior and relations between the people of Iraq were examined and comprehensive intelligence situation reports were prepared, this phase concentrated on collecting intelligence on different jihadi factions." The second phase identified in the self-described insurgent analysis prioritized what the author calls "defensive operations" -- "an all-out confrontation with various Jihadi detachments, characterized by sustained direct contact by U.S. forces and Iraqi police units." This phase included "defining areas of confrontation with Jihadis, confining and isolating these areas, constructing camps and control points in these areas and setting up ambushes along routes" they frequented. The final phase involved "interception" -- with U.S. and Iraqi forces launching search and seizure operations deep within Iraqi cities. "Hundreds of Jihadis were detained in a matter of weeks and a significant number of arms caches were uncovered," states Bakier. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #5 It is who gest most from action and reaction that will make the winner. Dont expect the casualities will go down constantly. |
| Posted by: Pholugum Stalin1270 2008-01-09 21:23 |
| #4 WAPO > SEE NO GOOD - WHY THE DEMOCRATS/CANDIDATES SEE NO PROGRESS IN IRAQ. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-01-09 19:40 |
| #3 Apart from the fact that most people don't like their children kidnapped, murdered and then served on a bed of rice; the big problem was that the terrorists became sloppy and predictable. Strategy page has had several articles about the Americans doing numeric analysis on terrorist incidents looking for patterns. Once the database got large enough, it became possible to predict where individual cells were going to strike next. They can not admit publically that they are a bunch of sadistic monsters, but until they show some awareness of pattern recognition, they are as good as dead. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2008-01-09 19:06 |
| #2 This kind of self deception and lack of objectivity guarantees failure in the future. It is essential to those who wish to conduct unconventional operations that they have *somebody* who will point out the glaringly obvious, without getting their head cut off for it. The Roman generals of old, with a victory wreath of laurel on their head, riding on a chariot in procession in Rome to greet the emperor, had a slave assigned to ride with them, whose job was to say, over and over again to the general "Thou are mortal." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-01-09 18:46 |
| #1 "Gee, maybe shooting everybody who looks at us funny wasn't the best strategy..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-01-09 16:44 |