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Mindboggling stupidity
Nov. 25th, 2003 09:10 amFrom a CNN story:
MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- Attacks on U.S. convoys killed three American soldiers Sunday, including two who were dragged from a car and looted after they were shot in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, according to witnesses.
Despite the losses, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said guerrilla attacks on occupation forces in Iraq were becoming less significant.
"This is an enemy that cannot defeat us militarily, and in engagement after engagement we see the enemy breaking off, running away," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
Seems to me like it's time to sack Brigadier-General Kimmitt, and replace him with somebody who's encountered the concept of "guerilla warfare", in which hit-and-run tactics play a crucial role.
Some time back, during the invasion stage of the war, a high-ranking officer - I can probably dig up his name if anybody really wants it - admitted that the Pentagon "had not wargamed" for the possibility of guerilla war. This was an appalling oversight at the time; something like eight months later, it seems they still haven't learned.
The Pentagon still seems to be planning within the "symmetrical warfare" paradigm, in which your opponent is of a similar size and has similar assets to yourself. Somebody needs to tell them that the Cold War is over, and that if they keep playing by Cold War tactics the soldiers they're supposed to be commanding will be the ones who pay for it.
Last I counted, the US had lost more soldiers this month than any since the invasion stage ended, and four or five helicopters to boot - and November still has a week to run. This is what "less significant attacks" look like?
MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- Attacks on U.S. convoys killed three American soldiers Sunday, including two who were dragged from a car and looted after they were shot in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, according to witnesses.
Despite the losses, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said guerrilla attacks on occupation forces in Iraq were becoming less significant.
"This is an enemy that cannot defeat us militarily, and in engagement after engagement we see the enemy breaking off, running away," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
Seems to me like it's time to sack Brigadier-General Kimmitt, and replace him with somebody who's encountered the concept of "guerilla warfare", in which hit-and-run tactics play a crucial role.
Some time back, during the invasion stage of the war, a high-ranking officer - I can probably dig up his name if anybody really wants it - admitted that the Pentagon "had not wargamed" for the possibility of guerilla war. This was an appalling oversight at the time; something like eight months later, it seems they still haven't learned.
The Pentagon still seems to be planning within the "symmetrical warfare" paradigm, in which your opponent is of a similar size and has similar assets to yourself. Somebody needs to tell them that the Cold War is over, and that if they keep playing by Cold War tactics the soldiers they're supposed to be commanding will be the ones who pay for it.
Last I counted, the US had lost more soldiers this month than any since the invasion stage ended, and four or five helicopters to boot - and November still has a week to run. This is what "less significant attacks" look like?
